The long-term goal is to provide training in linkage and association analysis thus advancing the understanding of statistical concepts underlying gene mapping methods. Additional goals are to familiarize researchers with the technical tools (application of computer programs) for statistical genetics. It is expected that such training will lead to an improvement in the analysis of genetic data, helping researchers develop the necessary skills to localize and isolate genes for complex traits thus increasing knowledge of disease etiology.
The specific aim i s to carry out each year one full-week course in advanced gene mapping at The Rockefeller University in New York. The course will be directed towards advanced researchers who are familiar with the basic aspects of statistical genetics but who need to become more proficient in the application of statistical analysis of complex traits. The course will be held in Weiss Hall at The Rockefeller University which is equipped with 24 PCs which are running under Red Hat Linux and are connected to the internet. Twenty-two participants will be admitted to the course. Travel stipends will be provided to seven of the participants who are either pre-doctoral students or post-doctoral fellows to cover the cost of airfare, hotel and board. The course consists of two components: lectures on important and current topics in gene mapping, as well as hands on exercises to be carried out with computer programs. Topics to be covered include: nonparametric linkage analysis in sib-pairs and extended families for quantitative and qualitative traits;variance components analysis;linkage disequilibrium;haplotype reconstruction;gene x gene interaction;tag SNP selection;association analysis (for case-control, quantitative and family based data);data cleaning;power analysis;empirical p-values;and the false discover rate.
