CWRU researchers lead review of phenome-wide association studies

Case Western Reserve University researchers in the Institute for Computational Biology and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics led a review of the current state of phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS), particularly in the context of precision medicine.

Dana Crawford, associate professor and one of the pioneers of the PheWAS approach, along with William Bush, assistant professor, and University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow Matthew Oetjens, surveyed the nascent PheWAS literature.

Using their findings, the researchers summarized the current statistical approaches—the most salient findings to date—and the challenges facing future PheWAS, which will likely be conducted using the newly collected Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program.

The review will be published in the March 2016 issue of Nature Reviews Genetics and is available now online at nature.com/nrg/journal/v17/n3/index.html.