Program Overview

PhD - Medical Science (SS 2024)

Program Overview

The PhD program in Medical Science at the Medical University of Innsbruck offers a comprehensive education in genetic risk assessment for complex diseases.

Lecturer

• Claudia Lamina, PhD
• Lukas Forer, PhD

Content

Date

The program will take place in the week between 12th and 16th of June, with 3-4 hours of instruction per day. The computer room has been booked from 10-15, but the exact times are not fixed and can be coordinated with the students.

Topics

The program will introduce students to genetic association studies and their interpretation. Covered topics include:

• Different genetic variants (SNPs, tandem repeats, Copy number variation)
• Linkage Disequilibrium
• Genetic association and genetic risk in complex diseases
• Interpretation of genome-wide studies
• Genetic risk scores: predicting the risk of diseases such as diabetes or stroke from genetic data
• Ancestry estimation and its role in genetic studies
• Using human studies to inform research on specific genes
• Genetics as an instrument to conclude on causality: examining the relationship between genetic factors and diseases such as myocardial infarctions and diabetes