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Activity Number: 126 - SPEED: New Methods in Statistical Genomics and Genetics Part 1
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, July 29, 2019 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Genomics and Genetics
Abstract #304829
Title: Assessing Exposure Effects on Gene Expression Using Inverse Probability Weighting and the Parametric G-Formula
Author(s): Sarah Reifeis* and Michael Hudgens and Michael Love and Karen Mohlke and Melissa Troester
Companies: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC-Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keywords: confounding; exposure effect; gene expression; inverse probability weighting; observational genomics; parametric g-formula
Abstract:

In observational genomics datasets, there is often confounding of the effect of an exposure on gene expression. To adjust for confounding when estimating the exposure effect, a common approach involves including potential confounders as covariates with the exposure in a regression model of gene expression. However, when the exposure and confounders interact to influence gene expression, the fitted regression model does not necessarily estimate the overall effect of the exposure. Using inverse probability weighting (IPW) or the parametric g-formula in these instances is straightforward to apply and yields consistent effect estimates. IPW can readily be integrated into a genomics data analysis pipeline with upstream data processing and normalization, while the g-formula can be implemented by making simple alterations to the regression model. The IPW, g-formula, and regression approaches to exposure effect estimation are compared herein using simulations; advantages and disadvantages of each approach are explored. The proposed methods are applied to two case studies estimating the effect of smoking on gene expression in adipose tissue and in breast tumor.


Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

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