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                                             BIOINFORMATICS COLLOQUIUM
						College of Science
                                              George Mason University
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                              Efficient Analysis of Associations between Haplotypes and
                                       Quantitative Traits in Family Studies
						 
                                                    Guoqing Diao

   				              George Mason University

Abstract:
The associations between haplotypes and quantitative traits provide
valuable information about the genetic basis of complex human
diseases. Two major challenges arise in haplotype association analysis
in family studies. First, the haplotype phases may not be determined
with certainty from the genotype data. Second, the trait values within
a family tend to be correlated because of common genetic and
environmental factors. We present an efficient likelihood-based
approach to investigating the associations between haplotypes and
quantitative traits. This approach accounts for within-family trait
correlations and can handle arbitrary pedigrees with missing
genotypes. We characterize the effects of haplotypes on quantitative
traits by regression models with random effects and derive appropriate
likelihood functions. We develop efficient numerical algorithms to
implement the corresponding likelihood-based methods. Extensive
simulation studies showed that the proposed methods perform well in
realistic situations. An application to family data from the Childhood
Asthma Management Program Ancillary Genetic Study is provided. A
computer program is freely available.