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Genetic Epidemiology
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Genetic epidemiology focuses on inherited causes of disease. Unlike the other major divisions of epidemiology, it bridges many substantive disease areas such as cardiovascular, neurological, cancer, psychiatric, and even infectious disease. The study designs employed in genetic epidemiology are varied, some involving conventional epidemiological approaches such as case-control and cohort studies, and others involving approaches specifically designed for investigating genetic effects on diseases or traits (e.g., association studies, segregation analysis and linkage analysis). The coursework in genetic epidemiology provides exposure to the biological bases of inherited disease, and research approaches used in this area.
Faculty members in epidemiology are conducting research in various areas of genetic epidemiology. These include studies on the genetics of neurological disorders (seizure disorders, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, stroke, and autism); psychiatric disorders (depression, panic disorder, substance abuse and schizophrenia); cardiovascular disorders (lipid levels); cancer (breast, skin, colorectal, and genetic susceptibility to environmentally-induced cancers) and infectious disease susceptibility. Faculty members are also researching methodologic issues in this field, such as optimal study designs for assessing familial aggregation, gene-environment interaction, disease-genotype and disease-haplotype association, and the effects of population stratification on genetic association studies. In addition, faculty members are also studying the effects of levels of gene expression on disease risk.
Strong collaborations are in place with the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia Genome Center, the Division of Statistical Genetics of the Department of Biostatistics, the Division of Clinical Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics, the Herbert Irving Cancer Center and the Department of Medical Informatics. Many of these have weekly seminars bringing together faculty and students.
There are two monthly journal clubs (Statistical Methods in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Methods Microarray Studies) and a Columbia University Seminar in Genetic Epidemiology.
Faculty working in Genetic Epidemiology
Links in Genetic Epidemiology
