Genetics and genetic epidemiology are powerful tools for the discovery of mechanisms that are important for both exposures and diseases, as well as for the triangulation of etiological factors for disease risk and for other applications, such as polygenic risk scores.
The EPIC study has contributed data to multiple large genetic consortia, which have generated genotyping data on up to 61 000 individuals. Given the deep phenotyping that exists for questionnaire information and blood-based measurements, these data are a sizeable resource to understand heritable variation for blood-based traits for which equivalent sample sizes do not exist in other large cohorts.
In addition to studies that seek to discover novel heritable variation for traits within the EPIC study, summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) can be used to triangulate the association between heritable traits and diseases, such as by using Mendelian randomization and colocalization.
The Genetics Working Group aims to facilitate state-of-the-art research that can best leverage the sizeable genetic resources and provide them for the thriving community of researchers conducting genetic analyses, by providing a forum to discuss and apply best practices for analyses in this field. This work will also involve discussions to resolve complexities arising from the generation of EPIC genetic data across multiple array types and study designs over time, to assess the presence of potential statistical biases that may result.