The era of genomic epidemiology

Abstract

The recent revolution in genomics is already having a profound impact on the practice of epidemiology. The purpose of this commentary is to demonstrate how genomics and epidemiology will continue to rely heavily on each other, now and in the future, by illustrating a number of interaction points between these 2 disciplines: (1) the use of genomics to estimate disease heritability; (2) the impact of genomics on analytical study design; (3) how genome-wide data can be employed to effectively overcome residual population stratification arising from selection bias; (4) the importance of genomics as a tool in epidemiological investigation; (5) the importance of epidemiology in the collection of adequately phenotyped samples for genomics studies, and (6) for unraveling the clinical and therapeutic relevance of genetic variants once they are discovered. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG.