GWAS

HUNT MCE Population & Disease Genomics Group (HUNT Genes)

HUNT MCE Population & Disease Genomics Group (HUNT Genes)

Our vision is to harness population-scale genomics to transform the prevention and treatment of human disease.

By integrating genetic variation, omics, longitudinal health data, and functional genomics, HUNT Genes seeks to uncover the biological mechanisms that drive common and complex diseases across the lifespan. We aim to translate these discoveries into robust targets for drug development, improved risk stratification, and evidence-based strategies for disease prevention.

We work across a range of different phenotypes and diseases including early life phenotypes such as birth weight and their relationship to later life risk of disease, as well as asthma, COPD, chronic kidney disease, autoimmune diseases, hearing loss and Alzheimer's disease among others.

We have a particular interest in Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), Mendelian randomization (MR) and polygenic scores (PGS), and using these methods to answer causal questions in genetic epidemiology.

We are actively involved in genotyping and imputation of large-scale genetic datasets including the HUNT Study, have access to the UK Biobank cohort and have excellent collaborative relationships with several of the world’s premier cohort studies including MoBa, Tromsø and ALSPAC.

We are well placed to coordinate collaborations with other large-scale studies, and we plan to do reciprocal look-up and meta-analyse results with studies of similar size to improve power. We will also participate in a range of consortia focused on discovery for a wide variety of traits.

Projects

Projects

HUNT MCE run a large project called ALL-IN where we look at a wide range of diseases. This is done in close collaboration with clinicians and researchers who specialize in the different areas.

ALL-IN Projects

Contact: John-Anker Zwart, MD, PhD, FORMI/UIO

  • Cognitive impairment
  • Common psychiatric conditions
  • Eating disorders
  • Epilepsy
  • Headache and migraine
  • Surgical treatment of neck and back disorders
  • Neurodegenerative diseases
  • Pain conditions
  • Parkinsons disease
  • Sleep conditions
  • Cerebrovascular disease
  • Brain tumour

Research activity