Salon 1
Opportunities and Statistical Challenges for Women in Genetic Research (303340)
*Shili Lin, The Ohio State UniversityKeywords: Women in genetic research, DNA double helix, DNA methylation, high-throughput technology.
Women have played an integral part and critical roles in the study of molecular structure, genetics, and statistical genetics, from Rosalind Franklin who laid the groundwork for X-ray diffraction imaging of DNA that led to the eventual discovery of the double helix structure, to Mary Claire King who proved that breast cancer can be inherited, and to Elizabeth Thompson who devised the “peeling algorithm” for extracting maximum genetic information contained in large and complex pedigrees. As molecular technology continues to revolutionize research in genomics and epigenomics, with big data being produced at an unprecedented rate, a critical mass of women statisticians and data scientists are attracted to contribute to research in this area. Although opportunities are abound, there are also many challenges. An example is research on DNA methylation, which plays a key role in gene regulation. In recent years, high throughput genome-wide platforms have been developed to study DNA methylation. I will discuss opportunities and challenges in developing statistical methods for analyzing such data. In particular, I will highlight methods that take correlations into consideration.