OxTalks is Changing
OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Leveraging functional annotations to enhance trait prediction and biological discovery
Join Zoom Meeting
aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/65050948135
Meeting ID: 650 5094 8135
Abstract
Integrating phenotype and genotype data with functional genomic annotations can deepen our understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits. Previous studies have shown that the distribution of genetic effects varies across functional annotation categories, partly shaped by natural selection. In this presentation, I will discuss statistical methods we have developed to leverage functional annotations for improving polygenic prediction of complex traits and for genome-wide fine-mapping of causal variants. I will also review current strategies for integrating functional genomics with GWAS data to identify cell types associated with complex traits, share key lessons we learned from benchmarking different methods, and present our findings from applying a temporal single-cell transcriptomic data analysis to psychiatric disorders.
Biography
Dr Jian Zeng is a Group Leader in statistical genetics and an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). He received his PhD in Quantitative Genetics from Iowa State University and joined the Program in Complex Trait Genomics at UQ in 2016. His research focuses on developing and applying innovative statistical methods to understand the genetic architecture of complex traits. He works on identifying genetic variants, genes, and molecular phenotypes associated with trait variation, as well as disease risk prediction using genome sequence data. Since 2022, Dr Zeng has also served as Director of the Genetics & Genomics Winter School, an annual in-person course held each July, which provides training in computational methods for genetic data analysis.
Date:
29 August 2025, 8:30
Venue:
Big Data Institute, Old Road Campus OX3 7LF
Venue Details:
LG0 Seminar Room
Speaker:
Dr Jian Zeng (University of Queensland)
Organiser contact email address:
alison.lewis@ndph.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Prof Naomi Wray (University of Oxford)
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Alison Lewis
