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| Christopher I. Amos, PhD
Research Interests:
Genetics-statistics, disease susceptibility, colorectal neoplasms |
One focus of my research is the development of mathematical tools to use in studying the genetic etiology of common diseases. Methods that I have developed for genetic linkage analysis do not require that a genetic model be specified, so they can be easily applied to the study of common diseases. I am also involved in numerous studies that examine the genetic and environmental determinants of disease. In collaboration with Dr. Margaret Spitz (this department), I am investigating genetic factors involved in the etiologies of lung and prostate cancer. In collaboration with Drs. Ellen Gritz (Department of Behavioral Science), Patrick Lynch (Department of Gastrointestinal Medicine and Nutrition), and Marsha Frazier (this department), I am assessing clinical correlations between mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes and colon cancers and psychosocial aspects of genetic testing for these genes. A project I direct and on which I collaborate with Dr. Frazier involves performing mutation detection for Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a rare, autosomal-dominant condition predisposing patients to the development of solid tumors. I serve as the core leader for the Informatics Section of the Cancer Genetics Network, which is led by Dr. Louise Strong (Division of Pediatrics). Our group has provided assistance to Drs. Elizabeth Travis and Michael Weil (Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology), identifying genetic factors involved in murine radiosensitivity. In addition to conducting cancer studies, I serve as the coordinating statistical geneticist for the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium, which is collecting genetic linkage data from more than 800 sibling pairs with rheumatoid arthritis. I also head a statistical genetic coordinating center for the Genetic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer Consortium and collaborate with Dr. Eric Boerwinkle (The University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health) in genetic studies of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Selected Publications
Amos CI, Frazier ML, Wang W. DNA pooling in mutation detection with reference to sequence analysis. Am J Hum Genet 66:1689–920, 2000
Amos CI, Gu X, Chen J, Davis BR. Least squares estimation of variance components for linkage. Genet Epidemiol 19:S1-S7, 2000
Page GP, Amos CI. Comparison of linkage-disequilibrium methods for localization of genes influencing quantitative traits in humans. Am J Hum Genet 64:1194-1205, 1999
Weil MM, Xia X, Lin Y, Stephens LC, Amos CI. Identification of quantitative trait loci controlling levels of radiation-induced thymocyte apoptosis in mice. Genomics 45:626-628, 1997
Wan Y, De Andrade M, Yu L, Cohen J, Amos CI. Genetic linkage analysis using lognormal variance components. Ann Hum Genet 62:521-530, 1998
Additional Information:
| Department: | Epidemiology |
| Department URL: | |
| Division/Section: | Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences |
| Last Updated: | 06/10/2006 |
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