Science AMA Series: I am Manolis Dermitzakis, Professor of Genetics at
the University of Geneva in Switzerland, I study the genetic basis of
complex human traits, AMA!
Abstract
Hello, I am Manolis Dermitzakis (everyone calls me Manolis), Professor
of Genetics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. I will be
connecting with you from (surprisingly) sunny Geneva (though it will be
dark when I connect) and I am looking forward to reading your questions
and try to open a debate about what is important and how we can improve
our knowledge of human biology by means of genetic analysis. We have a
strong interest in population genomics and genetics of complex traits.
We are using various methodologies to understand the role of genetic
variation in phenotypic variation. We also aim to understand what
fraction of genetic variation is harbored within known functional
elements of the human genome, and develop methodologies for their
efficient identification. Our main focus is on genome-wide analysis of
gene expression and cellular phenotypes and association with nucleotide
variation with a focus on disease susceptibility. The questions in our
lab range from basic biology of the genome to how we can use molecular
phenotypes to understand individual disease risk. However, I am open to
all questions outside my comfort zone and I promise I will let you know
when I don’t know, which may be more frequent than you think ☺ I am
looking forward to chatting with you! Manolis’s current research focuses
on the genetic basis of cellular phenotypes and complex traits. He has
served as an analysis co-chair in the pilot phase of the ENCODE
(ENCyclopedia Of Dna Elements) consortium and member of the analysis
group of the Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium and the International
HapMap project. He had a leading analysis role in the extension of the
HapMap (aka HapMap3 project) and is a member of the analysis group of
the 1000 genomes project and a co-chair in the GTEx (Genotype-tissue
expression) project. I will be back at 1 pm ET (10 am PT, 6 pm UTC) to
answer your questions, ask me anything!