Research Fellowship at the Erasmus MC Rotterdam: Genetics and Epigenetics of Thyroid Function

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Alexander Teumer
• Subject Area: Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics ; Endocrinology, Diabetology, Metabolism
• Term: Funded in 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 316504197

The main research objectives are the identification of new genetic markers associated with thyroid function, i.e. serum thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4), and hypo- and hyperthyroidism. The applicant currently conducts a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) on thyroid function within the Thyroid Function Working Group of the international CHARGE consortium. In a follow-up, correlating these loci with methylation patterns is planned as part of the fine-mapping analyses. A part of the follow-up work within this fellowship will include training on the analysis of methylation data obtained from the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array that are available in several cohorts of the Thyroid Function Working Group. In a subsequent project (after the fellowship), the identification of methylation sites that are associated with these traits is planned by an epigenome-wide association studies approach using the data of the HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Host: Dr. Abbas Dehghan, Ph.D.