# Genome-wide screen for dynamic gene-environment interactions

> **NIH NIH R03** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $94,753

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The etiology of most common complex diseases involves not only discrete genetic and environmental factors,
but also interactions between them. However, in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) scientists have
mostly examined the marginal effects of genetic factors without incorporating gene-environment interaction
(GxE). The central hypothesis in the proposal is that incorporating GxE in GWAS will enhance the power to
detect genetic association for variants that confer disease susceptibility subject to exposure to environmental
risk factors. The goal of the proposed study is to develop powerful methods to identify genetic associations by
incorporating nonlinear GxE through a semiparametric approach in a unified framework for GWAS and to im-
plement the methods in scalable software. The first specific aim is to simultaneously test gene and GxE when
correlation among subjects is negligible; the second specific aim is to simultaneously test gene and GxE where
correlation among subjects is explicitly modeled. Validity, power, and computational efficiency of the proposed
methods will be examined by simulations and real data analyses. Upon completion of the proposed studies, a
computationally efficient tool that is implemented with a powerful approach to simultaneously test gene and
GxE for both population-based and family-based studies will be delivered. The method and tool shall increase
the power of detecting variants interacting with environmental factors to influence a trait in GWAS. Detecting
such genetic variants will provide a focal point for future mechanistic, pharmacological, and clinical studies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10431662
- **Project number:** 1R03ES034138-01
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Chao Xing
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $94,753
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-13 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10431662

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10431662, Genome-wide screen for dynamic gene-environment interactions (1R03ES034138-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10431662. Licensed CC0.

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