The overarching goal of the program project, ?Systems Biology of Airway Disease?, is to identify common molecular determinants and pathways for asthma and COPD. These determinants will be identified through the use of a diverse array of molecular data ? DNA sequencing and genomewide SNP data (Project 1), RNA sequencing and expression data (Project 2), methylation sequencing and miRNA sequencing data (Project 3). In order to meet the goals of this project, extensive biostatistical and bioinformatics support is necessary and will be implemented throughout each of the three projects. As such, we have established a Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core (Core B) that will meet these needs for the program project. Specifically, we will develop/refine bioinformatics pipelines for DNA, RNA and methylation sequencing data to ensure that the sequencing data to be generated will be of high quality and are managed properly. These pipelines will be incorporated into the existing bioinformatics structure that supports the other molecular data being used throughout this PPG. Several of the goals throughout the three projects are innovative in nature and are best addressed through the development of new statistical methods that are specific to the project aims. As such, this core will also develop and distribute novel statistical genetics methods and software necessary to meet the specific needs of each of the projects. Finally, the goals for each project require extensive statistical analyses. This core will oversee the statistical analyses throughout the PPG, ensuring that the analyses are appropriate and completed in a timely manner. The Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core will be directed by Dr. Christoph Lange, Professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), with a joint appointment as Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School (HMS). In addition, there is a team of experienced statisticians, bioinformaticists and bioinformaticians who are longtime collaborators with each other and with the Project Leaders, Dr. Scott T. Weiss (Project 1), Dr. Benjamin A. Raby (Project 2) and Dr. Dawn L. DeMeo (Project 3). Their successful track record and productivity suggests that the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics team will work successfully to help meet the overall needs of this PPG.
The overarching goal of the program project is to identify common molecular determinants and pathways for asthma and COPD that may provide key insights into the underlying biology of these disorders, leading to improved patient treatment. In order to achieve this goal, a biostatistical and bioinformatics core is necessary to create new data pipelines, provide the statistical support to analyze the data and generate new statistical methods required to achieve the goals of the specific aims within this program project.
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