Teaching 2014-2015

• When does the first class take place?
• Wednesday February 25, from 1-4pm in Room 11
• If you have a laptop, please bring it to this and subsequent classes
• No other material is necessary, unless announced


• When and where do the next classes take place?
• Click here for an updated course schedule.
Updated (24 February 2015)


• What if I have additional questions?
• Consult Kristel Van Steen (kristel.vansteen@ulg.ac.be) before or after class or by e-mail. In order for the mail not to get lost, please mention "genetic epidemiology" or "épidémiologie génétique" in the subject title.


• What about homeworks?
• Click here for some guidelines


• Reference book:
• Click here

• Course notes:
• Chapter 1: Logistics
• For those interested in a software environment to perform most of the analyses we will talk about in this class - check out the following downloading instructions for R and Bioconductor: Follow this link
• Some more information on using R:
• Part 1: R manuals
• Part 2: Basic Commands !!!
• Part 3: An introduction to R
• Part 4: Advanced
• Part 5: A few illustrative examples in R
• Specific themes relevant to genetic epidemiology: Course outcomes (exam)
• Chapter 2: Introduction to Molecular Genetics
• Workshop papers:
• Paper 1: primer on molecular genetics
• Paper 2: primer on genetic epidemiology
• Background Information:
• Basic Epidemiology

• Course notes:
• Chapter 3: Different faces of genetic epidemiology
• List of themes for group presentations (last year):
• Click here
• Homework assignments:
• Part 1 + 2 ( Part 1 due 25 March / Part 2 due 13 May )

• Course notes:
• Chapter 4: Population-Based Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAs)
Updated with "population genetics" (24 March 2015)
• List of themes
• Workshop document:
• How to read a GWA study?
• Beyond Genome-Wide Association Studies: meta-analysis
• Background information:
• GWA studies in Nature ...
• Which variants are functionally relevant?
• Common vs. Rare Allele Hypotheses for Complex Diseases?

• Student presentations on homework assignment - part 1; with discussions
• Slides presentations will be posted here after class
• Marks to be earned: presentation + slides + report = 30/100 ; participation in discussions = 10/100
• Report for homework 1 can be handed in at the end of the class series (giving you the opportunity to add material from Marks to be earned: presentation + slides + report = 30/100


• Course notes and workshop documents
• Discussions / workshop papers in light of material already covered in Chapter 4 (see 25 March 2015)

• Course notes:
• Chapter 5: Population-Based Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAs) - continued
• Workshop document:
• What makes a good genetic association study? Are these recommendations extendable to other study types within genetic epidemiology, including gene-environment and gene-gene interaction studies?

• Course notes:
• Chapter 6: A primer on genome-wide association interaction (GWAI) studies
• Background reading
• On the distinction between interaction and effect modification