Methods to unveil sex-specific genetic architecture in trans-ancestry meta-analysis

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ABSTRACT Large scale genetic datasets have revolutionized human genetic research. In the past decade, genome-wide association studies have identified numerous genetic variants associated with various complex traits. These discoveries have informed new biology and led to novel therapeutics. Yet, most studies focused on European samples and most of the studies were conducted by pooling both sexes together. Sex-specific genetic architecture in diverse populations remains largely elusive. As the next step, consortia efforts have begun to aggregate datasets from diverse non-European populations. Meta-analysis is often employed in large consortium studies There is a compelling need to develop methods that can effectively conduct trans-ancestry meta- analysis. To this end, we will develop a series of innovative methods to improve the power for association mapping, the precision of fine mapping and the accuracy of polygenic predictions in trans -ancestry analysis. Resulting methods will be applied to a series of heart, lung, and blood related traits, in collaboration with a number of consortia studies. This is a continuation of our strong track record of method development in statistical genetics. We will implement the methods into a few widely used tools, including RVTESTS, SEQMINER, and RAREMETAL, which will not only benefit our own study but also other researchers in the field.