Project description:Background Information: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is an age-related, intraocular pressure (IOP)-dependent progressive optic neuropathy that ultimately leads to irreversible blindness. Vision loss from POAG is a condition of public health significance. Current evidence suggests that POAG is a polygenetic disease modified by environmental influences. Despite the fact that a positive family history of disease is an important risk factor for POAG, conventional linkage and candidate gene approaches have revealed less than 5% of the genetic component of the disease. Furthermore, there is no consensus on environment risk factors for POAG. Elevated IOP is the only modifiable risk factor for POAG; yet, lowering IOP slows, but does not halt the disease process. Study Objectives: The overall goal of our research is to elucidate the pathogenesis of POAG so that cost-effective disease detection and primary prevention strategies can be implemented. The primary aim of the Glaucoma Gene Environment Initiative (GLAUGEN), funded by the Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), is to discover genetic loci associated with POAG. The secondary aim of GLAUGEN, funded by NHGRI and the National Eye Institute, is to discover gene environment interactions in POAG. Methods and study populations: For this study, we have assembled cases and controls from three studies: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Genetic Etiologies of POAG (GEP) project based at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI). This case-control group includes 1057 unrelated cases and 1272 controls. Members of the NHS and HPFS also have repeated environmental exposure data collected prior to a diagnosis of POAG. NHS - The Nurses Health Study started in 1976 under the direction of Dr. Frank E. Speizer. With funding from the NIH, registered nurses from 11 US states were invited to complete a detailed questionnaire regarding lifestyle and health biennially. Initially, 121,000 women responded to the baseline questionnaire. Currently, Dr. Susan Hankinson serves as the program director for the NHS. HPFS - The Health Professionals Follow-up Study began in 1986 under the direction of Drs. Walter Willett and Meir Stampfer. Under the auspices of the NIH, they enlisted 51,529 male health professionals from throughout the US to complete similarly designed biennial questionnaires. Beginning in 1990, questions regarding ocular health were added to biennial questionaires completed by health professionals participating in the NHS and HPFS. This allowed us to formulate (PI: S. Hankinson; NEI) and maintain (PI: L. Pasquale; NEI) a cohort at risk for POAG derived from the respective general cohorts who were under ophthalmic care. We then developed a definition of POAG that allowed us to identify cases from a population that was geographically dispersed. The centerpiece of this definition is the presence of reproducible visual field loss consistent with nerve fiber layer (NFL) dropout (the NFL contains the axons that comprise the optic nerve) on reliable tests. Reproducible visual field loss occurred in the context of anterior segment findings that did not suggest a secondary cause of elevated IOP and posterior segment findings that did not suggest a secondary cause of visual field loss. We selected controls from the cohort at risk for POAG on the basis of age, gender and time period when cases were identified. GEP - The Genetic Etiologies of POAG was initiated in 1996 with funding from the National Eye Institute under the direction of Dr. Janey Wiggs. The purpose of this work was to discover novel genetic loci associated with POAG. In the GEP, cases were derived predominantly from the Glaucoma Service at MEEI. The majority of cases had an examination by a glaucoma specialist and met the definition for POAG used in NHS and HPFS. Cases with only one reliable visual field consistent with NFL dropout were included if there was a cup-disc ratio of 0.7 or more. The majority of controls were patients who presented to the MEEI comprehensive ophthalmology service for routine eye examination or from spouses of MEEI patients with secondary forms of glaucoma. Other controls were identified from regional glaucoma screenings held throughout Massachusetts. Members of GEP have detailed ocular phenotype data but limited information on environmental exposures. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, <a href="http://www.genevastudy.org" target="_blank">http://www.genevastudy.org</a>) funded by the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to primary open-angle glaucoma through large-scale genome-wide association studies of three well-characterized cohorts of cases and controls, some in matched pairs. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center. Data cleaning and harmonization were performed at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

Project description:Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) affects approximately 21 million individuals in the U.S., or almost 10% of the U.S. adult population. Because diabetes is determined by both genetic and environmental factors, a better understanding of the etiology of diabetes requires a careful investigation of gene-environment interactions. The Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals' Follow-up Study (HPFS) are well-characterized cohort studies of women and men for whom stored blood and DNA samples are available as well as detailed information on dietary and lifestyle variables. The major goals of the project include: 1. To conduct a GWA analysis among 3,000 cases of T2D and 3,000 healthy controls in NHS/HPFS cohorts. 2. To use information on the joint effects of genes and a list of carefully selected environmental exposures at the initial screening stage to test gene-environment interactions. This approach optimizes our power to detect variants that have a sizeable marginal effect and those with a small marginal effect but a sizeable effect in a stratum defined by an environmental exposure. For this analysis, we have developed a joint test of genetic marginal effect and gene-environment interaction. This flexible two-degree-of-freedom test generally provides greater power than standard methods and has the potential to uncover both marginal genetic effects and stratum-specific effects. The Version 1 (v1) dbGaP release of data from the GENEVA Diabetes Study (NHS/HPFS) includes data from the NHS only. The Version 2 (v2) dbGaP release includes data from both the NHS and HPFS. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, <a href="http://www.genevastudy.org" target="_blank">http://www.genevastudy.org</a>) funded by the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes mellitus through large-scale genome-wide association studies of well-characterized cohorts of nurses and health professionals. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center. Data cleaning and harmonization were done at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

Project description:For the GENEVA CARDIA project, three genotype call sets were generated from a single set of array scans as a consequence of DNA sample quality problems. These call sets are designated "Birdsuite-1", "Birdsuite-2" and "Beaglecall". ("Beaglecall" used both Birdseed and BEAGLECALL calling algorithms.) An analysis-ready genotypic data set is provided in PLINK format for the "Beaglecall" set only, because it performs very well in QC analyses. Only raw CHP and ALLELE_SUMMARY files are provided for the two Birdsuite call sets because they have significant quality issues. Use of the Beaglecall set is highly recommended. Users of the other two call sets should proceed with caution. More details are given in the genotypic QC report. The CARDIA study, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), is a prospective, multi-center investigation of the natural history and etiology of cardiovascular disease in African-Americans and Whites 18-30 years of age at the time of initial examination. The initial examination included 5,115 participants selectively recruited to represent proportionate racial, gender, age, and education groups from 4 communities: Birmingham, AL; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; and Oakland, CA. Participants from the Birmingham, Chicago, and Minneapolis centers were recruited from the total community or from selected census tracts. Participants from the Oakland center were randomly recruited from the Kaiser-Permanente health plan membership. From the time of initiation of the study in 1985-1986, five follow-up examinations have been conducted at years 2, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20. The Year 25 examination is scheduled to begin in 2010. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, <a href="http://www.genevastudy.org" target="_blank">http://www.genevastudy.org</a>) funded by the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors associated with variation in longitudinal blood pressure profiles during the critical transition period from young adulthood to early middle-age; and to characterize their interactions with relevant environmental factors, such as body weight profiles. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center. Data cleaning and harmonization were performed at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

Dataset Information

GENEVA Glaucoma Genes Environment Initiative Study (GLAUGEN)

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