NIH’s Genes, Environment And Health Initiative Adds 6 Studies

[Guest guest]

NIH's Genes, Environment And Health Initiative Adds 6 Studies

http://lookabetter.clickalist.net/2008/11/30/nihs-genes-environment-

and-health-initi.html

The Genes, Environment and Health Initiative (GEI) of the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded grants, estimated to be up

to $5.5 million over two years for six studies aimed at finding

genetic factors that influence the risks for stroke, glaucoma, high

blood pressure, prostate cancer and other common disorders.

The grantees will use a genome-wide association study to rapidly

scan markers across the complete sets of DNA, or genomes, of large

groups of people to find genetic variants associated with a

particular disease, condition or trait.

" Genome-wide association studies are helping us take major strides

towards identifying the genetic variants associated with common

diseases, " said National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Acting Director Alan E. Buy generic lasix Guttmacher, M.D., who is

co-chair of the GEI coordinating committee. " This initiative will

yield valuable information about the biological pathways that lead

to health and disease and about how genetic variants, environmental

factors and behavioral choices interact to influence disease risk.

Such information is vital to our efforts to develop more

personalized approaches to health care. "

GEI is collaboration between genetic researchers and environmental

scientists. Six GEI-supported genome-wide association studies,

overseen by NHGRI, are already under way. Two additional GEI

studies, supported and managed by the National Institute of Dental

and Craniofacial Research, have also begun. In addition, the

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is overseeing

GEI-supported research that seeks to develop wearable sensors and

other technologies to accurately measure personal exposures to

environmental agents.

Funding for the latest round of studies was contributed by all of

NIH's 27 institutes and centers. The principal investigators, their

approximate funding for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, and their

research projects are:

Kathleen , Ph.D., s Hopkins University School of Medicine,

Baltimore; $1.2 million. Genome-Wide Associations: Environmental

Interactions in the Lung Health Study.

Myriam Fornage, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center,

Houston; $1.1 million. Genome-Wide Association Study of Longitudinal

Blood Pressure Profiles from Young Adulthood to Middle-Age.

Haiman, Sc.D., University of Southern California, Los

Angeles; $210,000. A Multiethnic Genome-Wide Scan of Prostate Cancer.

Heit, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; $1.1 million. Genome-

Wide Association of Venous Thrombosis (Blood Clots in Veins).

Braxton , Ph.D., University of land School of Medicine,

Baltimore; $1.1 million. Genetic Risk to Stroke in Smokers and

Nonsmokers in Two Ethnic Groups.

Louis Pasquale, M.D., Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard

Medical School, Boston, $850,000. Genes and Environment Initiative

in Glaucoma.

Data from the genome-wide association studies will be deposited in

the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP), at the National

Center for Biotechnology Information, a part of the National Library

of Medicine at NIH, which will manage the vast amount of genetic,

medical and environmental information that emerges from GEI. To

encourage rapid research advances, and in keeping with the

principles pioneered by the Human Genome Project, all data generated

through these initiatives will be made available to researchers,

consistent with NIH's data-sharing policy for NIH-supported, genome-

wide association studies, which is available on NIH's Office of

Extramural Research Genome-Wide Association Studies Web page at

For researchers who want to view genome-wide association data

produced by GEI, dbGaP offers two levels of access. The first is

open-access, which means the information will be available without

restriction on the Internet, and the second is controlled-access,

which requires preauthorization for the individual researcher

seeking to view it. The open-access section will allow users to view

study documents, such as protocols, questionnaires and summaries of

phenotype data. The second is the controlled-access portion of the

database, which allows approved researchers to download individual-

level genotype and phenotype data from which the study participants'

personal identifiers, such as names, have been removed.

—————————-

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

—————————-

More information on genome-wide association studies can be found at

More information on environmental impacts on health can be found at

NHGRI is one of 27 institutes and centers at the NIH, an agency of

the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of

Extramural Research supports grants for research and for training

and career development at sites nationwide. Additional information

about NHGRI can be found at its Web site,

NIEHS, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports

research to understand the effects of the environment on human

health. For more information on environmental health topics, visit

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research is the

nation's leading funder of research on oral, dental and craniofacial

health. Additional information about NIDCR can be found at its Web

site,

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - " The Nation's Medical

Research Agency " - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a

component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It

is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,

clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the

causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For

more information about NIH and its programs, visit

Source: Geoff Spencer

NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute

Tags: blood, pressure

Comments are closed.