Jessica Faul: Where Do We Go from Here? Incorporating Genetics into Social Science and Health Research in the GWAS Era

On 9/13/2019, Jessica Faul will present “Where Do We Go from Here? Incorporating Genetics into Social Science and Health Research in the GWAS Era” as part of the Carolina Population Series 2019-2020 Interdisciplinary Research Seminar Series.
Dr. Faul studies health and cognitive functioning, health disparities, and the integration of genetic and social science data in health research. She has worked with HRS core and restricted data files, examining genetic, gene-environment, and socioeconomic determinants of health and using longitudinal modeling and time-varying predictors of health outcomes.

Seminar abstract:

There has been a significant increase in the number of population-based and social-science surveys adding genetic data over the last decade. This has dramatically expanded the reach of these studies by making rich phenotypic data of interest to researchers from a wide variety of disciplines in the biological and health sciences. The expansion of population-based phenotypic, environmental and genomic data, plus the growing interest in integrating the behavioral and social sciences with biology, has the incredible potential for cutting edge science. Large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified genes with significant and replicated evidence of association with cognitive and physical function measures, longevity, obesity, health behaviors, and educational attainment, to name a few; however, the size of the genetic effects found to date, while increasing, explain only a fraction of trait variability. So where do we go next? This talk will focus on what we’ve learned from the GWAS era, provide research-based examples of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches for integrating social and genomic data that move beyond GWAS, and will conclude with a discussion of what hurdles remain and what the future may hold for genetic research in a social science context including a discussion of issues related to biological data collection in a field setting.

The Carolina Population Center hosts a weekly Friday lecture on a topic that enhances our understanding of population-related changes. The 2019-2020 Interdisciplinary Research Seminars will feature talks related to aging trajectories, health behavior, the Zika virus, and the beverage tax – among other topics.

All seminars are held from 12:00 – 1:00 pm in Carolina Square Room 2002 at 123 W. Franklin St. unless otherwise indicated.