###Goal of my project
Genetic ancestry, race and health disparities: A biocultural approach
The proposed research project will investigate the genetic underpinnings of race and disease within a biocultural context. The question driving this research is why African Americans suffer an increased prevalence of hypertension.
DNA samples will be collected from all individuals interviewed for sociocultural risk factors and those samples will be assayed for ancestry informative genetic markers (for an estimate of genetic ancestry) and for candidate genes involved in hypertension and related phenotypes.
###Questions to be asked
Three sets of questions will be addressed: 1) What are the associations between different measures of race, 2) What association exists between genetic ancestry and hypertension? 3) Are associations between candidate gene polymorphisms and hypertension modified when ancestry, measures of skin color, and novel sociocultural data, such as new measures of discrimination, are added to the model?
###Data available
Sample: 170 individuals
Biological/medical data: Multiple blood pressure readings, sex, age, BMI, BP meds
Genetic data: Saliva/DNA samples typed ~5000 ancestry informative markers, 3 Alu insertion deletion polymorphisms and ~25,000 SNPs (blood pressure, CVD, stress, pigmentation, ancestry informative markers)
Sociocultural data: Extensive interviews including new measures of unfair treatment and everyday discrimination ###Analyses to conduct
First stage: Input Excel file into R and generate average systolic and diastolic blood pressure variables
Second stage: Multiple regression analyses to test for association between BP, biological/medical data, Alu markers, genetic ancestry and unfair treatment
Third stage: Multiple regression analyses to test for association between BP, biological/medical data, 25,000 SNPs, genetic ancestry and unfair treatment