Decoding genetics
Our lab develops and shares new statistical methods and user-friendly software to help unravel the complex genetic bases of common human diseases and traits.
Overview
The Statistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory of Daniel J. Schaid, Ph.D., at Mayo Clinic performs study design, data analysis, computational structure and evaluation of statistical methods for analyzing the genetic data generated by collaborators both within and outside of Mayo Clinic.
The methodology and software developed and distributed by our research team have wide application to the research community at large and to the biomedical field in particular.
The complex genetic bases of common human diseases and traits necessitate the development of new statistical methods to address new questions and new data emerging from ongoing and cutting-edge research.
Areas of interest
Our specific areas of research interest include:
- Family-based genetic epidemiology studies, such as studies of the aggregation of diseases in families, analysis of quantitative traits and genetic linkage studies
- Genetic association studies of common diseases, including breast cancer, prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease (case-control studies) and their quantitative traits
- Design and analysis methods for DNA and RNA sequencing studies
About Dr. Schaid
Dr. Schaid is a professor of biostatistics at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota. He has been actively researching statistical methods for genetic studies since 1993 and has collaborated in a broad range of human genetic studies.
Dr. Schaid received a master's degree in human genetics in 1981 and a Ph.D. in biostatistics in 1986, both from the University of Pittsburgh. After working in cancer clinical trials and genetic studies from 1986 to 1992 at Mayo Clinic, he took sabbatical leave from 1992 to 1993 to work on statistical genetics problems with distinguished statistical geneticist Dr. Robert Elston, then at Louisiana State University Medical Center.
As principal investigator of the Statistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology Lab, Dr. Schaid hopes his research helps track down genes that increase risk of disease and improves how patients respond to therapies for a variety of conditions.