3334 results for "*geneti*"

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• Unraveling the Genetic Architecture of Diabetic Retinopathy in South India

  This study aims to understand the genetic architecture of diabetic retinopathy in the South Indian population by examining participants with South Indian ancestry and type 2 diabetes (T2D) from two sources: the Sankara Nethralaya-Diabetic Retinopathy Epidemiology and Molecular Genetic Study (SN-DREAMS) and prospective recruitment at Sankara Nethralaya affiliates. A total of 2393 patients were recruited and included in the genetic analysis, with 1588 patients having no diabetic retinopathy (DR) serving as the controls and 805 patients with any level of DR serving as the cases. Enrolled individuals had genome-wide genotyping from DNA extracted from blood samples. In addition, whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 31 members from 2 families. Clinical data, such as age, duration of diabetes, and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) were recorded for study participants. Diabetic retinopathy was assessed by clinical exam and/or fundus photography. The grading of diabetic retinopathy followed the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale.

  Study phs002116

• Integrated Clinical and Transcriptomic Profiling to Characterize Disease Phenotype

  Personalized medicine requires that we first address the challenge of genetic heterogeneity, prominent in rare cancers to common disease. While current clinical DNA sequence data successfully identify novel genetic variants, the genomic data alone are insufficient biomarkers of clinical phenotype. There is an unmet need for systematic integration of specific functional genomic data with patient genetic data, in order to bridge the knowledge gap between genetic variation and clinical phenotype. This specific study is focused on functional genomic data from platelets as disease-specific cells that are also ideal for proof-of-principle transcriptomic investigation (being anucleate), and highly-relevant to multiple disease processes.

  Study phs002121

• Environmental Arsenic and Diabetes Mellitus (Chihuahua Cohort)

  The Chihuahua Cohort was established as part of a larger NIEHS-funded project that used laboratory models (tissue culture and mice) and human subjects to examine the association between exposure to arsenic and diabetes, including identification of mechanisms underlying this association. All procedures involving human subjects were approved by institutional review boards at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Cinvestav-IPN (Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico). All participants provided signed informed consent. A total of 1,160 adults (≥ 18 years old) with a minimum 5-year uninterrupted residency in the Chihuahua study area were recruited between 2008 and 2012. Samples of drinking water were obtained from the participants' households. Data on residency, occupation, drinking-water sources and use, smoking, alcohol consumption, and medical history were recorded by a study questionnaire. Spot urine and fasting venous blood were collected during medical examination that included an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with blood drawn 2 hr after a 75-g glucose dose. Plasma from both fasting and 2-hr blood samples was collected. Body mass index (BMI) of each participant was calculated from body weight and height. BMI cutoffs of ≥ 25.0, ≥ 30, and < 18.5 kg/m2 were used to define overweight, obese, and underweight individuals, respectively. Participants' waist circumference was also measured. Blood pressure was assessed using a manual sphygmomanometer. Three measurements were taken at intervals of at least 1 min, with a 5-min rest before obtaining the first reading; the mean of the last two measurements was used. The concentrations of arsenic in drinking water and arsenic species in urine were measured by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry. The limit of detection for As in water as well as for As species in urine was 0.01 µg As/L. Creatinine concentration in urine was determined using an established colorimetric assay. DNA was isolated from blood for genotyping analysis.The following measures were taken: glucose concentration in fasting blood (FBG) and in blood collected 2 hours into OGTT (2HBG); concentrations of triglycerides, HDL and total cholesterol (TC) in fasting plasma; and LDL was calculated using the Friedewald equation. Diabetes was classified by FPG ≥ 126 mg/dL, 2HPG ≥ 200 mg/dL, or self-reported diabetes diagnosis or medication use (WHO/International Diabetes Federation 2006). Prediabetes was defined as the absence of diabetes with FPG ≥ 110 mg/ dL or 2HPG ≥ 140 mg/dL. Elevated fasting levels of each lipid were defined as plasma TG ≥ 150 mg/dL, TC ≥ 200 mg/dL, and LDL ≥ 130 mg/dL. Fasting HDL < 40 mg/dL in men and < 50 mg/dL in women were designated as low. Hypertension was defined by systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 90 mmHg, or self-reported use of anti-hypertensive medication. Genotyping analysis, which will be available in version 2 of this study, was carried out in a subset of ~600 subjects with focus on enzymes involved in the metabolism of arsenic, including AS3MT, GSTs.All data collected during the medical exams or generated by the above-described chemical and biochemical analysis of water, urine and blood/plasma, as well as results of the genotyping analysis are included in dbGaP. Data generated by metabolomics and epigenetic analyses in small subsets of the Chihuahua cohort are not included, but are available in published articles.

  Study phs002139

• Demographically Diverse Substance Use Disorder Cohorts of Dr. Stanley H. Weiss

  The Demographically Diverse Substance Use Disorder Cohorts of Dr. Stanley H. Weiss, which constitute the Epidemiology of the Weiss Cohort Projects, consist of a series of inter-connected projects, building upon a set of cohort projects of various groups, mainly drug users from medication-assisted treatment programs, that Dr. Stanley H. Weiss first developed in the 1980’s plus several newer initiatives, each with an array of collaborators. Beginning in the 1980’s, Dr. Stanley H. Weiss started several long-term studies of persons who inject drugs (PWID) across the United States, ultimately enrolling over 10,000 participants through the early 1990’s with an average age then in their 30’s. About a quarter were enrolled from sites in New Jersey (NJ). These studies included the first testing of PWID for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the human T-cell lymphotropic viruses (HTLV I and HTLV II). Cumulative past support (initiation thru ~ 1999) for these cohort studies included ~ $20 million from intramural resources from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), plus multiple grants and in-kind support from the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) totaling ~ $1 million. The Weiss Cohort Projects include the first large AIDS-era cohorts to include women at high risk for HIV. A high percentage of subjects in these studies are black or Latino. Thus, this is an ethnically diverse US cohort, with a high proportion of women included. These subjects are at high risk of parenteral and sexual infection from both drug use and sexual practices. Samples from other studies conducted by Dr. Weiss, in which detailed interviews were conducted, are included as controls (persons documented by us not to have a history of opioid drug use). As one of our groups of subjects have many persons of Haitian ancestry, we specifically included some Haitians who had never used opioids as controls. Our documentation includes such ancestry. These cohorts demonstrated high rates of HIV and HTLV-II infection in PWIDs, including one study initiated in 1981 with confirmation in the later cohorts. In the first two decades of these studies, among numerous publications was the first study showing a very high rate of hepatitis C infection among PWIDs. An example of how the studies’ long-time horizon proved essential was that it first became possible to test whether a person had ever been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), as well as how much HCV was in each person’s blood, many years after the specimens were collected. This allowed HCV amounts in blood to be compared for subjects who had died of liver disease early in the study versus those who survived. Then a sequence of published papers culminated in demonstrating, using a nested case-control design, that a high baseline HCV titer was predictive of early progression to death from end-stage liver failure. Outcomes related to HCV (end stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma) remain under study. In the original cohort studies, the mean age at enrollment was ~ 33 years old, so that those still alive in 2022 are mainly now ~ 60 - 75 years old. Many participants have already died. The tincture of time has led to subjects reaching ages when many more are dying from a wide array of outcomes, including from many chronic diseases (including cancer) as well as from infectious agents (especially HIV, HCV) or drug overdose. Renewed collaboration with local drug treatment programs has led to new field-based studies, including examination of some currently evolving problems among drug users. Dr. Weiss joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Genetics Consortium (NGC) in 2017, and through the NIDA project officer has had access to NGC contract resources (see below). NIH Certificate of Confidentiality, CC-DA-16-214 (attached) protects these studies. Past arrangements related to data on our subjects leads to restrictions on the use of data emanating from our study, such as potential commercialization and restrictions on whom may access and use these data. NIDA Genetics Consortium (NGC) resources further support these endeavors and will be used as part of the NGC analyses studying the genetics of substance use. Study participants signed informed consent for the information collected from them to be used with no time limit and for biologic specimens collected from them to be used without restriction in future research. Serum samples were collected from participants, and from many also plasma, white blood cells and/or urine samples. About 100,000 vials were stored. All specimens have been continuously preserved at sufficiently cold temperatures to prevent deterioration, and many subjects separated white blood cells were processed and frozen in such a way as to maintain viability. Detailed data from the participants has been accumulated over time, and in general, linkage has been retained in each sub-study in accordance with the consent forms and protocols. For some participants, specimens were collected at multiple times (that is, sequential specimens). Multiple specimens from a single person exist in this database, and efforts at de-duplication remain ongoing. Dr. Weiss should be contacted if an investigator requires unique individuals since: • Multiple phases of enrollment occurred, and as our prospective follow-up continues; Dr. Weiss may identify new instances of multiple enrollment. • Some persons are related to each other. • In general, in this dataset for dbGaP, only a single specimen/record form a given person is included. Advances in laboratory testing techniques now permit innovative new uses for our linked research biospecimen repository. The ongoing focus of an interdisciplinary research program based on these cohorts relates subjects’ diseases, behaviors, medical history, and outcomes with biological and exposure markers. Participants’ use of various substances was ascertained on study enrollments, many serially over time. Quantitative frequency of use data, also sometimes sequential over time, were ascertained. Active ascertainment of outcomes is being conducted, including matching to mortality and cancer databases. Investigators interested in collaborations on specific outcomes (which is not part of this dbGaP dataset) or in the use of our stored specimens are encouraged to contact the principal investigator, Dr. Weiss. The processing of the genomic data was done in conjunction with NIDA, and in accordance with some longstanding data cleaning steps used by NIDA in the NIDA Genetics Consortium (NGC), a group to which we shall be contributing these data for collaborative analyses. Since there is the potential for these steps to introduce certain types of potential biases, we summarize these here. Under contract from NIDA, cryopreserved sera or plasma (-80 C) or cells (in liquid nitrogen) were used, with most stored having been stored for 30 to 40 years in our biorepository. In the case of serum or plasma, in which only (largely) cell-free DNA fragments were available, DNA was extracted and restored prior to amplification. Industry standard DNA amplification techniques were done on all samples prior to genotyping in accord with established protocols of the NIDA Genetics Consortium. Our genotype data were run and processed on the Illumina Infinium OmniExpress_v_1.3 array. This array has 714,238 SNPs, and was designed many years ago. There were 628 SNPs on the array that do not correspond to any chromosome position, and these were removed. Genotype data were submitted by NIDA’s contracted genotyping laboratory in six batches over time to NIDA’s contracted dbGaP data management group, which conducted quality control (QC) analyses. QC analysis included an assessment of batch effects on for five of the six batches. (One of the batches, with only 12 samples, was too small for QC analysis of batch effects.) Standard NIDA Genetic Consortium cleaning was performed. Samples with a call rate <.85 were removed. Only one sample per person was retained. When more than one specimen was genotyped from one subject, only the sample with the higher call rate was retained (provided, of course, that that call rate was ≥ 0.85). We have retained some people we know are related, including some found to have been related through genotyping; the pedigree file describes those relationships. In summary, key cleaning steps include: 1. Using PLINK to check gender discrepancy. 2. Using PREST-PLUS and KING (Kinship-based Inference for GWAS) to check relatedness. 3. Using PEDCHECK and PLINK to check/zero-out Mendelian error. 4. Using PLINK to perform sample QC, SNP QC, along with KING to perform chromosome X and chromosome Y QC. 5. SNP-QC: Batch-effect: 5 Batches were compared (one batch, with few samples, was not). These five batches were compared to each other in all ten possible pairs, one batch vs. another batch, examining SNP allele frequency discrepancies by population (from GRAF), Fisher Exact Allelic test, with the criterion of p<5e-8 for removal. 6. SNP-QC: discordant SNPs in QC duplicates. Compared 25 QC duplicated samples with call rate > 0.95, removed SNPs with 3+ discordance. 7. There were 1,056 SNPs that were monomorphic; these have been retained so they can be included in analyses in which our dbGaP data are combined with those from other cohorts (in the latter of which those SNPs may not be monomorphic). The final cleaned dataset submitted has 8,898 samples and 606,793 SNPs.

  Study phs002140

• Molecular Characterization of Hemimegalencephaly

  Somatic mutations, in which a fraction of the cells in the body have a deleterious mutation, are well recognized in cancer but only recently appreciated in neurological disease. Given a somatic mutation in a population of progenitor cells, all daughter cells inherit the mutation and are able to express the resultant phenotype as a function of the differentiation program. We recently identified the first de novo somatic mutations in the developing brain in the condition hemimegalencephaly (HME), a catastrophic focal epilepsy condition associated with a malformation of cerebral cortical development (MCD). HME is one of the most severe MCD syndromes, characterized by massive hamartomatous overgrowth of either of the two cerebral hemispheres. Cerebral hemispherectomy is a frequent treatment for refractory epilepsy, allowing the sampling of diseased tissue. By comparing DNA from a diseased brain with DNA from blood/saliva, we identified de novo somatic mutations in PIK3CA, AKT3 or MTOR, part of the mTOR pathway. Mutations were present in 8-40% of sequenced alleles in various brain regions sampled during surgery and in some codons known to activate proteins.• Population informationPatient samples were collected from multiple centers. The population is Caucasian and Hispanic• Molecular technologies employedWhole-exome sequencing• Principal findings of the studyWe were the first to describe mTOR-related and non-mTOR mutations causing hemimegalencephaly, and we described two-hit mutational models to explain the genetic pathogenesis of hemimegalencephaly

  Study phs002156

• Genome-Wide Association Study of Patients with Coccidioidomycosis

  BackgroundValley Fever is typically an infection of the lungs caused by the fungi Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii. The incidence of Coccidioidomycosis (CM), or infection with Coccidioides, has dramatically increased over the last 20 years. This is particularly true in the Southwest of the United States, where people often breathe fungal spores that arise from the soil. Reasons for increased infection rates are thought to include population growth and construction in these endemic regions, an increase in the number of people whose immune systems are compromised due to infection or treatment with drugs required for organ transplants, climate change, as well as improved testing practices and greater physician awareness. Mild CM most commonly presents itself with flu-like symptoms and rashes, which can last weeks to months. Individuals with compromised immune systems, specifically-- substantial suppression of the immune cells known as T cells, can develop severe pulmonary and disseminated disease. Infection that remains localized to the lungs is referred to as pulmonary disease, but when the infection spreads out of the lungs into other parts of the body it represents a more serious condition referred to as a disseminated disease, or disseminated CM. In nature, Coccidioides spp. exists as mold and lives in dust and soil. When the contaminated soil or dust is disturbed by human activity, animals, or weather, the Coccidiodies spores are released into the air. Airborne spores are taken up by breathing and settle in the lungs. Once in the moist and warm environment of the lung, spores transform into spherules, which divide and become filled with smaller spores, called endospores. When the spherules get large enough, they rupture and release these endospores, which can spread and disseminate to surrounding tissue. The cycle then repeats itself as these endospores develop into new spherules3. Different ethnic groups have been described to vary in their susceptibility to developing disseminated CM after initial infection with Coccidioides. For example, evidence suggests that African-American and Filipino patients suffer the disseminated disease at a greater rate than other ethnicities. The suggestion that race plays a role in the clinical expression of the disease is still a source of debate amongst the scientific community and any genetic mechanisms responsible for these differences have yet to be fully elucidated. If our genetic makeup influences our ability to limit the spread of infection, finding which DNA differences cause these variances could provide clues to how the body successfully fights infection, and provide opportunities to boost the body’s ability to do this. Further, if we are able to identify the specific genetic risk factors that correlate with the development of disseminated infection, physicians could perform genetic screenings to identify high-risk patients and provide them with preemptive antifungal therapy prior to developing disseminated disease.The genome, made up of DNA, contains all of the information needed for humans to develop and grow. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) allow us to look for inherited differences that are more common between people who share a particular trait, for example, height or susceptibility to certain diseases, compared to those who do not share the trait. Although some traits and diseases are controlled by a single gene, the majority are influenced by contribution from several, or even many, different genes. To find evidence of genes that contribute to specific traits, GWAS typically compares genome information from large numbers of people who have a particular disease (referred to as “cases”) looking for DNA sequences that are common among these samples, and are different from DNA sequences seen in large numbers of people who lack the trait, but are as much like the cases as possible (referred to as “controls”). The DNA sequence data from each group, cases versus controls, are analyzed to see if there are specific genomic differences that tend to be associated with the disease. MethodsTwo separate GWAS approaches were taken to look for genetic differences that could be responsible for the observed differences between the different patient populations we are studying. The first method, known as genotyping, scans for differences at a set of positions across the genome, which includes both the genes that encode our proteins and the larger amount of DNA that does not. The second method, known as exome sequencing, allows us to compare the entire sequence of the portion of the genome that codes for proteins.  For this study, DNA from patients with either pulmonary or disseminated CM were genotyped and exome sequenced to look for DNA differences that are associated with one condition or the other. All patients were at least 18 years old, had no evidence of immunosuppression, and had proven or probable pulmonary coccidioidomycosis according to established diagnostic criteria. Of these patients, a subset demonstrated disseminated disease, i.e., they showed evidence of coccidioidal infection outside of the thorax by biopsy/aspiration, had radiographic imaging, and show positive coccidioidal serology. Our criteria for including patients with the pulmonary disease were that they must not require ongoing antifungal treatment or show evidence of active CM (in skin test positive patients), show no evidence of extrapulmonary dissemination, and have no evidence of ongoing pulmonary infection (pulmonary nodules are accepted) beyond six months from diagnosis.Patient DNA was purified from blood or from sputum samples by the labs of our collaborators, Drs. George Thompson (UC Davis School of Medicine) and John Galgiani (University of Arizona Health Sciences). Genome-wide association (GWAS) analysis was carried out to look for candidate loci associated with pulmonary versus disseminated disease, taking into account the population structure of the samples. Single nucleotide or insertion/deletion variants were identified from whole-exome sequences (WES) using the Picard/BWA/GATK pipeline. ResultsTable 1. Pulmonary versus Disseminated Cases of Coccidiomycosis for GWAS, Sorted by EthnicityEthnicityPulmonary CasesDisseminated CasesAsian85Black/African American1664Caucasian/White4015Filipino03Hispanic/Latino3414Indian21Mexican American1039Pacific Islander01Samoan03Vietnamese10Unknown16917More than one race02Total373134Table 1 shows the number of samples analyzed from patients with pulmonary versus disseminated disease, and patient ethnicity, where known. In all, we worked with 507 samples, including 134 samples from patients with disseminated disease and 373 samples from patients with pulmonary disease. Of these, 505 samples were genotyped using the Multi-Ethnic Global Array from Illumina Inc. In addition, we were able to generate whole-exome sequence from 498 patient samples. No significant associations were detected that differed between samples from patients with pulmonary versus disseminated disease; that is, no particular DNA sequences were found to be significantly enriched in patients with disseminated disease compared to patients with pulmonary disease. The ability to detect genetic association between specific sequences and genetically determined traits is influenced by several factors, including how many patient samples are available to compare, how many different genes contribute to the trait and how strong their contributions are. When the number of genes is small and the contribution of each gene is great, smaller numbers of patient samples are needed to detect an association. When more genes are involved, or the contribution from each gene is more modest, larger numbers of patient samples must be examined. While we were not able to detect any associated within this study, it does not mean that subsequent studies would not find this connection. Our study suggests significantly more samples should be analyzed in further studies.Whole-exome sequences were generated from 498 samples and were aligned to reference sequences to identify positions where the sequences differed from the reference. These data are being analyzed to determine if any variants are associated with pulmonary, versus disseminated, disease. 

  Study phs002170

• Serrated Colorectal Cancer: An Emerging Disease Subtype

  This dataset represents two combined study populations. Serrated Colorectal Cancer: An Emerging Disease Subtype (called the Advanced Colorectal Cancer of Serrated Subtype Study or ACCESS Study) was a grant awarded to investigate a newly-recognized, biologically-distinct subtype of colorectal cancer (CRC) called “serrated CRC.” The objective of this project was to characterize factors related to the genetic predisposition, clinical presentation, and prognosis of serrated CRC. The study recruited incident invasive CRC cases diagnosed between April 2016 and December 2018, aged 20-74 years at diagnosis. Cases were identified through the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry serving 13 counties in western Washington State. Eligibility for all individuals was limited to those who were English-speaking and could consent. Participation included completing a baseline epidemiologic questionnaire shortly after diagnosis, optional donation of a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and optional consent to release of medical records and tissue specimens related to their diagnosis. Tumor specimens were tested for serrated CRC-defining molecular characteristics. Further, we have vital status on all participants and cause of death on those that have died since enrollment. Hormones and Colon Cancer: Epigenetic Subtypes, Risks, and Survival (called the Post-Menopausal Hormones Study or PMH Study) was a grant awarded to investigate the impact of post-menopausal hormone use on colon cancer risk, tumor molecular characteristics, and outcomes. Eligible cases were females, newly diagnosed with invasive colorectal adenocarcinoma between October 1998 and February 2002, aged 50 to 74 years. Cases were residents of 10 out of the 13 counties in western Washington State served by the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry. Eligibility for all individuals was limited to those who were English-speaking with available telephone numbers, in which they could be contacted. Unrelated population-based controls were randomly selected according to age distribution (in 5-year age intervals) of the eligible cases by using lists of licensed drivers from the Washington State Department of Licensing (for individuals aged 50 to 64 years) and rosters from the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, for individuals older than 64 years). Participation included completing a baseline epidemiologic questionnaire, optional donation of a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and (for cases only) optional consent to release of medical records and tissue specimens related to their diagnosis. Tumor specimens were tested for epigenetic and other molecular characteristics. The ACCESS study was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NCI/NIH) (R01CA196337, PI: Newcomb, PA), as was the PMH Study (R01CA076366, PI: Newcomb, PA). Additional support for the PMH Study came from the Seattle site of the Colon Cancer Family Registry (SCCFR) (U01CA167551, PI: Jenkins, M, and U01/U24CA074794, PI: Newcomb, PA). Additional support for case ascertainment was provided by the Cancer Surveillance System of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, which is funded by Contract Number HHSN261201300012I; NCI Control Number: N01 PC-2013-00012; Contract Number HHSN261201800004I; and NCI Control Number: N01 PC-2018-00004 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute with additional support from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the State of Washington. This research was also supported by the Genomics and Bioinformatics, Comparative Medicine, Specialized Pathology, Collaborative Data Services, and Experimental Histopathology Shared Resources of the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium (P30 CA015704).Tumor marker testing was performed using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded diagnostic tumor tissue specimens, and DNA extracted from those specimens. Testing for microsatellite instability (MSI) was based on either a 10-gene panel (BAT25, BAT26, BAT40, MYCL, D5S346, D17S250, ACTC, D18S55, D10S197, BAT34C4) or a 4-marker immunohistochemistry panel of DNA mismatch repair proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2). CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) testing was based on a validated quantitative DNA methylation assay using a five-gene panel (CACNA1G, IGF2, NEUROG1, RUNX3, SOCS1) or eight-gene panel (CACNA1G, IGF2, NEUROG1, RUNX3, SOCS1, MLH1, CRABP1, CDKN2A). Somatic p.V600E BRAF mutation status was tested for using a fluorescent allele-specific PCR assay. KRAS mutations in codons 12 and 13 were also assessed through forward and reverse sequencing of amplified tumor DNA. DNA was extracted from blood/saliva samples using conventional methods. The genotyping panel completed was the Build37 OncoArray500K-C, including 1%-6% blinded duplicates to monitor the quality of the genotyping. Quality control procedures were performed to 1) make sure that there were no patterns of missing data by batch, study, or plate, 2) check for gender discrepancies and kinship, 3) complete Principal Component Analysis, and 4) test for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Samples were excluded based on call rate, heterozygosity, unexpected duplicates, gender discrepancy, and unexpectedly high identity-by-descent or unexpected genotypic concordance (>65%) with another individual. In addition, variants were excluded based on call rate (98%), lack of HWE in controls (P

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• Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Project in Microtia in Hispanic Populations

  The Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First) is a trans-NIH effort initiated in response to the 2014 Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act and supported by the NIH Common Fund. This program focuses on gene discovery in pediatric cancers and structural birth defects and the development of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Data Resource (Kids First Data Resource). All of the WGS and phenotypic data from this study are accessible through dbGaP and kidsfirstdrc.org, where other Kids First datasets can also be accessed. Microtia is a rare congenital deformity of the external ear, the pinna. The severity of microtia is variable and ranges from subtle deformities in the pinna to absence of the external ear. Microtia is often associated with closure of the external auditory ear canal causing significant hearing loss. Microtia can be an isolated, unilateral or bilateral malformation, or occur solely with ear canal deformities, or with additional craniofacial or syndromic manifestations. Earlier studies of identical twins with microtia demonstrated a significant genetic contribution. The molecular pathogenesis for most microtia remains unknown. We propose to leverage our clinical acumen in diagnosis and treatment of microtia (R.E.), our relationship to the microtia community (M.T.) and our collected DNA samples from microtia patients to identify genetic variant(s) that contribute to this congenital malformation. Microtia prevalence is much higher among Native Americans and some Latin Americans (17 per 10000 Ecuadorian births) than among individuals of European-descent (0.6 -1.6 per 10,000 births). To capitalize on this epidemiologic data, we have recruited microtia cohorts from Latin America and the U.S, including clinical data and DNA samples.

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• Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program in Bladder Exstrophy, Epispadias, Complex (BEEC)

  Urogenital anomalies account for 20-30% of prenatally detected structural defects. Bladder Exstrophy Epispadias Complex (BEEC) describes a subset of anomalies with a spectrum of developmental defects ranging from a mild form of epispadias, to classic bladder exstrophy, to omphalocele, exstrophy, imperforate anus, spinal anomalies (OEIS) complex. Patients with BEEC suffer substantial morbidity and mortality due to impaired genito-urinary dysfunction. The etiology of BEEC is largely unknown. Elucidating the underlying genetic component is critical to gaining a better understanding of the developmental signaling pathways and is likely the first step to developing targeted therapy.

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• Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Project in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, Related Diagnosis and Structural Birth Defects

  This study involves a cohort of 400 individuals and family members with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) and CdLS-like phenotypes for which a molecular etiology has not yet been established. CdLS is a developmental disorder characterized by development delays, cognitive impairment, short stature, hearing loss, specific facial features, and structural birth defects such as differences of the limbs, heart, kidneys, and GI tract. Our approach to tease out genetic contributions to birth defects has been to identify the underlying causes of syndromic birth defects which are often Mendelian in nature and therefore lend themselves more readily to genetic causal identification. Once identified, these genetic causes of syndromic forms of birth defects can be leveraged to understand the genetic contributions to isolated birth defects seen in constellation in syndromes such as CdLS. This work will lead to the identification of genes critical in human embryonic development, provide novel insights into transcriptional regulation and help to identify genetic causes and candidate genes for isolated birth defects seen in constellation in similar diagnoses.

  Study phs002174