Join us at our upcoming webinars to learn more about the ELITE Portal and its resources:
ELITE Portal Technical Workshop
Date and Time: April 24, 2025 from 9:00am – 11:00am PT (2 hrs)
Presenters: EL DMCC Team
Description: The ELITE Portal Technical Workshop introduces ELITE Portal infrastructure, how to find data and metadata, and how to download and join data in preparation for downstream analyses.
For slides and tutorial information, visit the ELITE Portal Technical Workshop space on Synapse.
Analysis of Pedigree OMIC Data
Date and Time: May 16, 2025 from 8:00am – 9:30am PT (1.5 hrs)
Presenter: Dr. Michael Province, PhD
Description: Pedigree OMIC data, such as from the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) are powerful for detecting genomic signals for aging traits, diseases and longevity. But unlike population data of unrelated individuals, pedigree data violate the basic statistical assumptions of almost all hypothesis tests and models: i.i.d. (independent and identically distributed) data. Thus standard software tends to give wrong answers—usually overstating statistical significance levels. Fortunately, there are several modified statistical approaches (and accompanying software) that can correctly handle the analysis of pedigree data, recovering the right answers.
In this webinar, we will review the topic of pedigree analysis, demonstrate the errors produced by ignoring the pedigree nature of the data, recommend various pedigree models highlighting the information needed to apply them, and highlight good software that implements these procedures.
Objectives: By the end of this session…
- Participants will be able to summarize the risks of ignoring non-independence of pedigree data
- Participants will be able to identify statistical approaches to analyze non-independence in pedigree data
- Participants will be able to evaluate the strengths of several models of trait inheritance in families (pedigree models)
About Dr. Michael Province, PhD
Professor of Genetics and Biostatistics
Washington University School of Medicine
Dr. Michael Province is a Professor and the Director of the Division of Statistical Genomics at Washington University School of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Washington University in 1987 and has since become a leading expert in statistical genetics, specializing in complex trait human gene discovery, pathway analysis, and the design of multicenter genetic studies and clinical trials. With over 400 scientific publications to his name, Dr. Province has dedicated his career to advancing the understanding of genetic and environmental interactions in human health, particularly in the context of complex diseases and aging.
With more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Province has served as the Principal Investigator (PI) and Coordinating Center lead for numerous national and international multicenter genetic studies, including research on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and other complex traits. His most recent work focuses on the Long Life Family Study (LLFS), a groundbreaking project examining families with exceptional longevity. As Steering Committee Chair since 2004, he has overseen research revealing that not only do these families exhibit remarkable longevity, but their offspring and even grandchildren show significant protection against age-related diseases and disabilities. On the theoretical side, Dr. Province’s research aims to refine statistical methodologies for modeling complex genetic interactions, epistasis, and gene-environment interactions, particularly for rare variants. His team is pioneering heterogeneity models that integrate linkage and association data to better pinpoint rare lineage-specific causal mutations for polygenic diseases.
Currently, he is leading major OMIC searches within the LLFS to uncover the biological mechanisms driving exceptional longevity. He continues to oversee the LLFS Data Management Coordinating Center and leads multiple projects, contributing to cutting-edge analysis methods in genetic research.