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Statistical Genetics in Association Studies and Prediction

Association studies are an important tool when identifying genetic risk factors in complex diseases.
To this end, researchers often conduct case-control studies that compare the frequencies of gene variants between healthy and diseased individuals. A higher frequency of a gene variant within the cases points to an involvement of this particular gene variant in the development of the disease.
There are two types of association study: candidate gene studies, in which only a small number of genes is examined, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) covering the whole genome.

The Department focusses on the development of novel statistical methods for candidate gene studies and GWAS as well as the identification of genetic risk factors. We are particularly interested in the areas of scaling problems, gene-gene and gene-environment interaction, pathway analysis, and prediction.

Last updated March 2023