An introduction to genetic and molecular epidemiology

Aim

The course focuses on basic concepts, methods and study design in genetic and molecular epidemiology research.

Learning outcome

After successfully completing this course you are expected to be able to:

• Explain the basic organization of the human genome and the central dogma of eukaryote genetics.
• Describe the concepts of meiosis, recombination, linkage and linkage disequilibrium.
• Give examples of familial inheritance, discuss how twins can be used in genetic studies, and summarize the last decade's breakthrough of genome-wide association analyses in complex diseases.
• Explain the different types of molecular omics techniques (epigenomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics etc.) and how these methods could be used in epidemiological studies.
• Describe the fundamentals of study design, sample randomization, and common biases in analyses of genetic and molecular epidemiological data to draw conclusions on how new sample collections should be conducted.

Intended learning outcomes are classified according to Bloom's taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom, 1956, extended by Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001).

Contents

The course is about concepts and methods used in studies of genetic variation influencing disease and other phenotypes. It will cover basic genetic inheritance and how it influences complex and quantitative traits, but will also cover common molecular methods applied in large-scale settings in epidemiology (epigenetics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, etc.).

Course director and contact persons