Tuesday, Aug 8: 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM
1287
Invited Paper Session
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Room: CC-701A
The WNAR of IBS Outstanding Impact Award and Lectureship was established in 2021 to recognize an outstanding individual or team, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or citizenship, who has made a significant impact on our society through service and/or research in the development and application of statistical, mathematical, and data science theory and methods in the biomedical or environmental sciences. A significant impact can comprise either a single contribution of extraordinary merit or an outstanding aggregate of contributions that significantly impacts to biosciences and environmental sciences.
Applied
Yes
Main Sponsor
WNAR
Presentations
In this presentation, I will discuss two prevalent techniques employed in biostatistics and bioinformatics. First, I will provide an overview of weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA), a systems biology approach used to delineate correlation patterns among variables. WGCNA enables the identification of clusters (modules) of highly correlated genes, the summarization of these clusters via module eigengene or intramodular hub gene, the establishment of relationships between modules and external sample traits (utilizing eigengene network methodology), and the computation of module membership measures. These techniques have proven successful across various biological contexts. Specifically, I will discuss a recent application of WGCNA to cytosine methylation data gathered by the Mammalian Methylation Consortium.
The second method discussed is referred to as epigenetic clocks, which serve as genomic aging indicators based on cytosine methylation patterns. I will outline three successive generations of epigenetic clocks that are designed to predict age in humans, assess human mortality risk, and estimate age across various mammalian species, respectively.