The theme of our research focuses on genetic epidemiological studies of complex phenotypes, in particular aging- and metabolism-related traits in humans. Through the use of extended families and large cohorts of unrelated individuals, the goal of our research is to identify susceptibility genes, environmental risk factors, and their patterns of interaction for traits of interest. We employ epidemiological principles, statistical tools and bioinformatics to perform linkage analysis and genetic association studies. Study populations include extended families from the Old Order Amish and large cohorts from the US and Mexico with extensive information from prospective long-term longitudinal follow-ups or national surveys.
Current projects and collaborations include the following:
• Genetic epidemiology of diurnal preference and its relationship with aging
• Genetic epidemiology of telomere length and its relationship with aging
• Candidate gene studies of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and longevity
The hope is that findings from these studies will contribute to a better understanding of the disease etiology. Furthermore, they may have significant implications on disease treatment and prevention strategies, such as identifying populations at high risk and providing "tailored" preventive or therapeutic strategies to patients with specific genetic profiles.
Hsueh W-C, Mitchell BD, Aburomia R, Pollin TI, Sakul H, Ehm MG, Michelsen B, Wagner MJ, St. Jean PL, Knowler WC, Burns DK, Bell CJ, Shuldiner AR. Diabetes in the Old Order Amish: characterization and heritability analysis of the Amish Family Diabetes Study. Diabetes Care 2000;23(5):595-601
Hsueh W-C, Mitchell BD, Schneider JL, Wagner MJ, Bell CJ, Nanthakumar E, Shuldiner AR. A QTL influencing blood pressure maps to the region of PPH1 on chromosome 2q31-34 in the Old Order Amish. Circulation 2000;101(24):2810-16
Hsueh W-C, Cole SA, Shuldiner AR, Beamer BA, Blangero J, Hixson JE, MacCluer JW, Mitchell BD. Interaction effects of variants in the b 3-adrenergic receptor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- g 2 on obesity in Mexican Americans. Diabetes Care 2001;24(4):672-677
Mitchell BD, Hsueh W-C, King TM, Pollin TI, Sorkin J, Agarwala R, Schaffer AA, Shuldiner AR. Heritibility of life span in the Old Order Amish. Am J Medical Genet 2001;102:346-352
Hsueh W-C, St. Jean PL, Mitchell BD, Pollin TI, Knowler WC, Ehm MG, Bell CJ, Sakul H, Wagner MJ, Burns DK, Shuldiner AR. Genome-wide and fine-mapping linkage studies of type 2 diabetes and glucose traits in the Old Order Amish: evidence for a new diabetes locus on chromosome 14q11 and confirmation of a locus on chromosome 1q21-q24. Diabetes 2003;52(2):550-557
Browner WS, Kahn AJ, Ziv E, Reiner AP, Oshima J, Cawthon RM, Hsueh W-C, Cummings SR. The genetics of human longevity. Am J Med 2004;117(11):851-60.
Swarbrick MM, Waldenmaier B, Pennacchio LA, Lind DL, Cavazos MM, Geller F, Merriman R, Ustaszewska A, Malloy M, Scherag A, Hsueh W-C, Rief W, Mauvais-Jarvis F, Pullinger CR, Kane JP, Dent R, McPherson R, Kwok PY, Hinney A, Hebebrand J, Vaisse C. Lack of support for the association between GAD2 polymorphisms and severe human obesity. PLoS Biol. 2005;3(9):e315
Njajou OT, Cawthon RM, Damcott CM, Wu S-H, Ott S, Garant MJ, Blackburn EH, Mitchell BD, Shuldiner AR, Hsueh W-C. Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan. PNAS 2007 ;104:12135-9
Reich D, Nalls MA, Kao WHL, Akylbekova EL, Tandon A, Patterson N, Mullikin J, Hsueh W-C, Cheng C-Y, Coresh J, Boerwinkle e, Li M, Waliszewska A, Neubauer J, Files JC, Hardy CL, Zmuda JM, Taylor HA, Ziv E, Harris TB,Wilson JG. The Duffy Null polymorphism causes neutropenia in African Americans Findings from the Jackson Heart Study, the Health Aging and Body Composition Study, and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. PLoS Genetics. 2009;5(1):e1000360
Njajou OT, Hsueh W-C, Blackburn EH, Wu S-H, Newman AB, Li R, Simonsick EM, Kwok P-Y, Harris TB, Cummings SR, Cawthon RM. Association between telomere length, specific causes of death and years of healthy life in Health Aging and Body Composition, a population-based cohort study. J Gerontol Biological Sciences 2009. Accepted.