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University of Colorado System
Genetic Epidemiology Foundations
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University of Colorado System

Genetic Epidemiology Foundations

Todd Edwards
Stephanie A. Santorico

Instructors: Todd Edwards

Instructors

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

4.6 (24 ratings)
Todd Edwards
Todd Edwards
University of Colorado System
1 Course•6,568 learners
Stephanie A. Santorico
Stephanie A. Santorico
University of Colorado System
1 Course•6,568 learners

6,568 already enrolled

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6 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.5

(51 reviews)

Intermediate level
Some related experience required
2 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

6 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.5

(51 reviews)

Intermediate level
Some related experience required
2 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
  • About
  • Modules
  • Recommendations
  • Testimonials
  • Reviews

Skills you'll gain

  • Data Validation
  • Statistical Modeling
  • Probability & Statistics
  • Biostatistics
  • Epidemiology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Public Health
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biology
  • Data Quality
  • Statistical Methods
  • Statistical Analysis

Details to know

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Assessments

6 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 6 modules in this course

This course is presented by the University of Colorado Denver in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the International Genetic Epidemiology Society. It is designed to provide students with the background and knowledge foundations necessary to conduct statistical analysis of genetic association study data. This course includes multiple lectures and evaluations on each of the topics: the history of genetics research presented by Dr. Nancy Cox, foundational concepts in population genetics presented by Dr. Bruce Weir, population structure in genetic association studies presented by Dr. Todd Edwards, quality control in genetic studies presented by Dr. Goncalo Abecasis, analysis of population-based case-control association studies presented by Dr. Celia Greenwood, and analysis of family-based studies presented by Dr. Joan Bailey-Wilson. Examples of concepts and reference literature are also provided in this 6-module course.

Taught by Dr. Nancy Cox, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In this module you will better understand genetic epidemiology from its origins to how modern ‘omics is integrated into genetic epidemiology of complex traits. Coverage includes introduction of liability and threshold models, genetic regulation of gene expression, and transcriptome imputation.

What's included

11 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

11 videos•Total 69 minutes
  • Course Introduction•2 minutes
  • Module 1 Introduction: What is Genetic Epidemiology?•0 minutes
  • Origins of Genetic Epidemiology•8 minutes
  • Legacies of these Origins and Scientific Rigor•7 minutes
  • Liability and Threshold Models: Introduction•6 minutes
  • Testing and an Example•2 minutes
  • Genetic Regulation of Gene Expression•9 minutes
  • Introduction•3 minutes
  • Methods•8 minutes
  • Methods Continued and Extension•8 minutes
  • Pleiotropy•9 minutes
4 readings•Total 35 minutes
  • Acknowledgements and Instructors•10 minutes
  • Glossary•10 minutes
  • Get help and meet other learners. Join your Community!•5 minutes
  • References and Links•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 45 minutes
  • Module 1 Summative Assessment•45 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
  • Module 1 Discussion Prompt•10 minutes

Taught by Dr. Bruce Weir, University of Washington. Methods and designs using genetic data are built upon the foundation of population genetics. In this module, you will learn these foundations, including the Hardy Weinberg principle, genetic drift, population structure, inbreeding, and linkage disequilibrium. These principles will be essential to subsequent modules in this course.

What's included

16 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

16 videos•Total 114 minutes
  • Introduction to Population Genetics•0 minutes
  • Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Definition and Implications•9 minutes
  • HWE Testing and P-Values•9 minutes
  • HWE Testing Power, QQ Plots, and Multiple Tests•5 minutes
  • HW Departures and Population Structure•8 minutes
  • Genetic Drift I•7 minutes
  • Genetic Drift II•7 minutes
  • Population Structure I•9 minutes
  • Population Structure II•7 minutes
  • Inbreeding and Relatedness I•9 minutes
  • Inbreeding and Relatedness II•8 minutes
  • Inbreeding and Relatedness III•7 minutes
  • Linkage Disquilibrium I•6 minutes
  • Linkage Disquilibrium II•6 minutes
  • Linkage Disquilibrium III•6 minutes
  • Linkage Disquilibrium IV•5 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
  • Related Articles•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
  • Module 2 Summative Assessment•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 15 minutes
  • Module 2 Discussion Prompt•15 minutes

Taught by Dr. Todd Edwards, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Building from the introduction to population genetics, in this module you will learn processes that lead to genetic differences between populations, methods to characterize these differences, and how to conduct association studies in structured populations. In addition, you will be able to describe how admixture methods can be applied for association mapping.

What's included

12 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

12 videos•Total 66 minutes
  • Population Structure•1 minute
  • Definition of Population Structure and Brief Overview of Human History•6 minutes
  • Factors the Influence Population Structure and Genetic Drift•7 minutes
  • Natural Selection•8 minutes
  • Examples of Population Structure in Modern Humans•8 minutes
  • Pima Example•4 minutes
  • Statistical Methods I: Structured Association and Genomic Control•5 minutes
  • Statistical Methods II: Principal Components Analysis•5 minutes
  • Statistical Methods III: LD Score Regression•3 minutes
  • Statistical Methods IV: Principal Components•4 minutes
  • Statistical Methods V: Mixed Models•3 minutes
  • Statistical Methods VI: Admixture Mapping•6 minutes
2 readings•Total 20 minutes
  • Resources Part 1•10 minutes
  • Resources Part 2•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
  • Module 3 Summative Assessment•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 20 minutes
  • New Discussion Prompt•20 minutes

Taught by Dr. Gonçalo Abecasis, University of Michigan and Regeneron, Inc. Quality control is an important step for high throughput genotype data. In this module, you will learn a range of different approaches to identify and to deal with quality problems at different stages of the analysis. In addition, genotype imputation is introduced to infer genotypes at markers that were not typed in the study samples.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

11 videos•Total 60 minutes
  • Basic Quality Control in Genetic Data•1 minute
  • Motivation and Background•6 minutes
  • Introduction to Quality Control•6 minutes
  • QQplots: Part 1•4 minutes
  • QQplots: Part 2•5 minutes
  • Mendelian Inconsistency Checks•7 minutes
  • Population Structure: Part 1•4 minutes
  • Population Structure: Part 2•5 minutes
  • Genotype Imputation: Introduction•5 minutes
  • Genotype Imputation: The Details, Part 1•4 minutes
  • Genotype Imputation: The Details, Part 2•7 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
  • Optional Readings•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
  • Module 4 Summative Assessment•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
  • Module 4 Discussion Prompt•10 minutes

Taught by Dr. Celia Greenwood, McGill University. Population based association studies have played an important role in mapping genes and genomic regions for complex traits by detecting association between alleles and a trait. In this module, you will learn basic measures of association, common modeling strategies, how to adjust for multiple testing and why, how to evaluate association results, and how to increase reproducibility of study results, including the use of meta-analysis and genetic imputation.

What's included

14 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

14 videos•Total 70 minutes
  • Population-Based Association Studies•1 minute
  • Basic Measures: Part 1•4 minutes
  • Basic Measures: Part 2•7 minutes
  • Common Modeling Strategies: Part 1•5 minutes
  • Common Modeling Strategies: Part 2•5 minutes
  • Introduction to Multiple Testing: Part 1•5 minutes
  • Introduction to Multiple Testing: Part 2•6 minutes
  • Reproducibility: Part 1•5 minutes
  • Reproducibility: Part 2•6 minutes
  • Introduction to Genotype Imputation: Part 1•5 minutes
  • Introduction to Genotype Imputation: Part 2•3 minutes
  • Introduction to Meta-Analysis and Consortia: Part 1•4 minutes
  • Introduction to Meta-Analysis and Consortia: Part 2•4 minutes
  • Introduction to Meta-Analysis and Consortia: Part 3•4 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
  • Resources•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
  • Module 5 Summative Assessment•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 15 minutes
  • Module 5 Discussion Prompt•15 minutes

Taught by Dr. Joan Bailey Wilson, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health. In this module, you will learn about the various ways in which family-based collections of genetic data are utilized in Genetic Epidemiology. This includes methods that provide support that a genetic component to a trait exists as well as to identify modes of inheritance consistent with a set of data. In addition, linkage methods, which identify large regions of the genome, and association methods, which identify a smaller set of variants, are covered to understand genetic factors affecting a trait.

What's included

18 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

18 videos•Total 107 minutes
  • Family-Based Designs•0 minutes
  • Overview•6 minutes
  • Familial Clustering•6 minutes
  • Twin Studies•6 minutes
  • Other Designs•7 minutes
  • Classical Methods•6 minutes
  • Modern Methods•3 minutes
  • Basics Part 1•6 minutes
  • Basics Part 2•6 minutes
  • Recombination and Mapping•7 minutes
  • Parametric Methods•8 minutes
  • Model-Free Methods•9 minutes
  • Overview Part 1•8 minutes
  • Overview Part 2•3 minutes
  • Types of Methods•5 minutes
  • Overview•3 minutes
  • Linkage•8 minutes
  • Association•2 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
  • References and Software•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
  • Module 6 Summative Assessment•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 15 minutes
  • Module 6 Discussion Prompt•15 minutes

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Instructors

Instructor ratings

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

4.6 (24 ratings)
Todd Edwards
Todd Edwards
University of Colorado System
1 Course•6,568 learners
Stephanie A. Santorico
Stephanie A. Santorico
University of Colorado System
1 Course•6,568 learners

Offered by

University of Colorado System

Offered by

University of Colorado System

The University of Colorado is a recognized leader in higher education on the national and global stage. We collaborate to meet the diverse needs of our students and communities. We promote innovation, encourage discovery and support the extension of knowledge in ways unique to the state of Colorado and beyond.

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Reviewed on May 19, 2025

For the quizzes, it would be nice if they were problem based questions, and we could use some of the equations to calculate for a final answer. Otherwise concepts were good.

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Reviewed on Nov 27, 2022

Excellent introductory lectures. I learned alternative ways of presenting this material and corrected some details from self study.

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