Abstract
DATE: |
April 23, 2009 |
TIME: |
1:15 - 3:00 pm |
LOCATION: |
Center for Clinical Sciences Research (CCSR), Rm 4205 |
TITLE: |
Discovering Gene-Environment Interactions: A Molecular Epidemiology Approach |
SPEAKER: |
Kee-seng Chia |
The Genomic Revolution and the current plethora of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has found many common genetic loci to be associated with highly prevalent chronic diseases like type II diabetes mellitus, breast and prostate cancers. However, the effect measures are often very small and their contribution to the total variance in risk explained is negligible. Environmental and lifestyle factors on the other hand have a much stronger association with these common chronic diseases. Unfortunately, these non-genetic factors alone are also insufficient to explain the risk of chronic diseases. There is a need to design studies that explore the interactions between genetic and environmental factors. In the molecular approach, this can only be effectively conducted through a prospective cohort studies as the environmental/lifestyle factors will have to be collected prior to the onset of disease. Several countries are currently in the process of developing such cohorts: UK Biobank, Singapore Consortium of Cohort Studies, Malaysian Cohort and LifeGene Sweden.
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