Project Start Date: Spring 2013
Project Title: Personalized risk evaluation in neurodegenerative dementia
Project Contact: Giovanni Coppola <gcoppola@ucla.edu>

Project Description: Large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of genetic risk factors for complex diseases. Since each of these factors confers a very small fraction of the overall genetic risk, considering them in the clinical practice is of very limited utility in both guiding clinical decisions and counseling. About 100 genetic risk factors have been identified in Alzheimer’s disease, mostly in Caucasian individuals. We have typed these risk variants in a large series of patients with neurodegenerative diseases (including African Americans and Latinos), and the aim of this project is to apply and test risk estimation algorithms, with the long-term goal of developing a personalized plan of attack – based on genetic and environmental risk factors – for patients at early stage of disease.

Required Experience: Experience with some programming language (preferred: Python, Perl, R, Java etc.), some background knowledge of genetics

Possibility of Funding : Yes