Home Department: Biology
Supported by: Anonymous Donor
Mentor: Euan Ashley, Medicine (Cardiovascular), Genetics, and Biomedical Data Science

A genome wide association study (GWAS) is a powerful tool to discover genetic variants responsible for a specific disease or heritable trait. For this project, a GWAS will be conducted on approximately 120,000 individuals who have undergone a submaximal exercise test to determine novel genetic loci that could be responsible for increased aerobic fitness. These loci could be utilized to prescribe exercise over medicine, create a drug that mimics the benefits of exercise, and elucidate the relationships between physical activity and other diseases.

Poster presented at the Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Symposium on August 24, 2017:

Genetic Determinants of Physical Activity

David Amar³, Daryl Waggott³, David Hsu^1,3, Anna Shcherbina², Euan Ashley^2,3
[Departments of Biology¹ and Medicine (Division of Cardiovascular Medicine³) and Program in Biomedical Informatics², Stanford University]