Workshop on Statistical Genetic Methods for Human Complex Traits

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PROJECT SUMMARY This proposal requests a further five years of funding to support the organization and delivery, on five occasions, of a one week intensive training workshop focused on the development of skills in statistical genetics that will advance the mission of NIMH. The workshop is targeted at post-doctoral trainees, graduate and medical students (MDs and PhDs), and early career faculty carrying out mental health research supported by the Public Health Service, who are currently conducting or planning to initiate research on the genetics of complex traits involved in mental health. So as to keep a balance between the needs of investigators conducting different kinds of studies and those using a variety of methodologies, we propose to alternate between a workshop focusing on structural equation modeling of twin, family, multivariate, and developmental data, and a workshop focusing on the analysis of genome variation including sequence data. Since the inception of the workshops in 1987, there have been over 2000 registrations for this training. Twenty four of the 31 workshops have been hosted by the current PI (John Hewitt) in Boulder, Colorado. Although a training workshop, it shares some characteristics of a scientific meeting. Participants are encouraged discuss their current research, to bring copies of their data to work on directly while at the workshop, and to discuss and develop research plans. New collaborations are established to facilitate both high quality research and publication on existing data sets, and new research initiatives are strengthened by the collaboration of experts with a phenotypic focus with experts in methodology. The curriculum of the workshop is continuously updated by world leaders in statistical and computational genetics and their application to mental health. This proposal follows the guidelines in PA Number: PAR-17-082 for Short Courses for Mental Health-Related Research Education and extends the training work previously funded by grants T35MH19392, T35MH19918, and R25MH019918. Through both didactics and hands-on experience, research scientists participating in the workshops will refine their research skills in genetic and genomic design and analysis. The workshop offers an innovative educational program designed to provide education in state-of-the-art statistical genetic methods important to fulfill the objectives of the current NIMH Strategic Plan, including its first Strategic Objective: to define the mechanisms of complex behaviors, in particular through the research priority of identifying the genomic and non-genomic factors associated with mental illnesses.