Joseph Deak
Research Fellow, Yale University
1 active project
Duplicate of Genetics of substance use and substance use disorders
Scientific Questions Being Studied
We are affiliated with the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Substance Use Disorders (PGC SUD) working group and our major goal is to better understand the genetic and biological factors underlying substance use disorders. This research may potentially lead to improved treatments and prevention efforts.
Project Purpose(s)
- Disease Focused Research (Substance use disorders and correlated psychiatric disorders)
- Ancestry
Scientific Approaches
We plan to use approaches such as genome-wide association analyses, polygenic risk score approaches, Mendelian randomization, GCTA, and other statistical genetics methods for analyzing SNP- and gene-based associations, generating polygenic predictors, estimating causal paths, and estimating heritability. We anticipate using the electronic health records data and other health- and behavior-related data in All of US. We will also be using the whole genome sequence data and the genotype array data, as well as the ancestry assignments and principal components provided by All of Us.
Anticipated Findings
We know that there are many genetic variants that contribute to substance use disorders (SUDs). Many of these variants exert effects on multiple SUDs (e.g., cannabis use disorder and tobacco use disorder), as well as other psychiatric disorders, while some variants seem to be substance-specific. We are still uncovering the gene networks and biological pathways implicated by these risk variants, and larger samples are still needed to detect common genetic risk variants, especially for under-represented populations in addiction genetic research. The All of Us Research Program provides a valuable resource for us to make progress on these questions and expand our research to include individuals of diverse ancestries. This research could eventually lead to better prevention methods and treatments for SUDs, and it is essential that all populations benefit from these findings.
Demographic Categories of Interest
This study will not center on underrepresented populations.
Data Set Used
Controlled TierResearch Team
Owner:
- Joseph Deak - Research Fellow, Yale University
- Emma Johnson - Other, Washington University in St. Louis
Collaborators:
- Sarah Colbert - Project Personnel, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Renato Polimanti - Mid-career Tenured Researcher, Yale University
- Howard Edenberg - Late Career Tenured Researcher, Indiana University
- Dongbing Lai - Project Personnel, Indiana University
- Alexander Hatoum - Research Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis
- Alex Miller - Research Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis
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