For our next talk, in the BDI/CHG (gen)omics Seminar series, we will be hearing from Associate Professor Robin Walters, Senior Scientist, China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) and Dr Alfred Pozarickij, Research Assistant in Genetic Epidemiology, CKB, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. We’re delighted to host Robin and Alfred in what promises to be a great talk!
Date: Tuesday 4 March
Time: 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Venue: Seminar room 1, BDI
Title: Genomic atlas of 9,500 proteins and their associations with human health in East Asian populations
Abstract
Large-scale proteomics provides new opportunities to discover novel protein associations with diseases, including potential drug targets. We performed the largest GWAS in an East Asian population for ~9,500 Olink- and SomaScan-assayed human plasma proteins in the China Kadoorie Biobank and identified ~10K pQTLs. Nearly 50% of pQTLs are distinct from those previously identified in European ancestry individuals, enabling identification of many new protein-disease associations. By combining our pQTL data with disease and phenotype GWAS from three independent East Asian biobanks, we have generated a network of potentially causal protein-disease and protein-trait associations with evidence of a colocalised signal. Our findings demonstrate how integrated analysis of proteomics, genomics and health outcomes in diverse populations can discover novel targets for disease prevention and treatment.
Bios
Associate Professor Robin Walters is Senior Scientist for the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB). He leads the establishment and development of CKB genomics resources, and directs diverse genomics research projects ranging from genome-wide association studies and contributions to large international consortia, to Mendelian randomisation and phenome-wide association studies for drug target prioritisation and assessment.
Following degrees in Natural Sciences (Cambridge) and in Genetics (Liverpool), and post-doctoral research in Sheffield, Oxford, and Imperial College London, Robin joined the CKB group in 2012. His current research interests focus on using multi-ancestry approaches to investigate the aetiology and genetic architecture of chronic diseases, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors including adiposity, blood pressure, and blood lipids.
Dr Alfred Pozarickij is a Research Assistant in Genetic Epidemiology in the CKB group, working on a variety of projects including blood pressure and multimorbidity. He aims to leverage information from genome-wide association studies to identify novel mechanisms that influence complex phenotypes.
Alfred completed his undergraduate degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at Heriot-Watt University and MSc in Evolutionary Genetics at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated from Cardiff University with a PhD in genetic epidemiology. He joined Oxford Population Health in 2019.
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As a reminder, the (gen)omics seminar series runs every other Tuesday morning and is intended to increase interaction between individuals working in genomics across Oxford. We encourage in-person attendance where possible. There is time for discussion over, tea, coffee and pastries after the talks.
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