Evidence-based guidance for the reporting of gene-disease association studies will greatly facilitate the synthesis of evidence and the investigation of potential biases. This approach is modeled on development of the CONSORT guidance for reporting clinical trials, which has been effective.

This workshop utilized the experience of the Human Genome Epidemiology Network (HuGENet™) and the work conducted by the Working Group on STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE, http://www.strobe-statement.org/index.html) to develop evidence-based guidelines to promote the clear reporting of genetic association studies. A group of around thirty epidemiologists, geneticists, statisticians and journal editors participated in the workshop. An initial set of guidelines was agreed and will be refined over the coming months by workshop participants and the broader community of researchers, journal editors and stakeholders interested in developing evidence-based policy. Later this year, these draft guidelines will be posted on the Canadian HuGENet Co-ordinating Centre website (http://www.hugenet.ca) , and comments solicited.

• Learn more about the STREGA Conference
• Read about other HuGE Workshops

This November, HuGENet UK will host a short course on how to undertake a HuGE systematic review. For more information, including a list of the faculty and topics to be covered, visit the HuGENet short course (last accessed 2/2008) web page. Please contact:

Jane Lane
HuGENet UK Coordinating Centre
Public Health Genetics Unit
Strangeways Research Laboratory
Worts Causeway
Cambridge CB1 8RN

Tel: +44 1223 742003
Email: jane.lane@srl.cam.ac.uk

• Family-Based versus Unrelated Case-Control Designs for Genetic Associations
  Evangelou E, Trikalinos TA, Salanti G, Ioannidis JP
  PLoS Genet 2006 Aug;2(8):e123

• Implications of Small Effect Sizes of Individual Genetic Variants on the Design and Interpretation of Genetic Association Studies of Complex Diseases (90KB)
  John P. A. Ioannidis, Thomas A. Trikalinos and Muin J. Khoury
  Am J Epidemiol 2006 Aug 7

• Genomics and Proteomics in Epidemiology: Treasure Trove or "High-Tech Stamp Collecting"?
  David J. Hunter
  Epidemiology 2006 Sep;17(5):487-489

• Getting ready for the future: integration of genomics into public health research, policy and practice in Europe and globally.
  Angela Brand et al.
  Community Genet. 2006;9(1):67-71.

View all HuGENet™ Publications and learn how to submit a paper for the HuGENet™ website

Two new HuGE Reviews have been posted on the HuGENet™ website since the last issue of ‘What's New':

• Meta-Analysis of Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms and Type 1 Diabetes: A HuGE Review of Genetic Association Studies
  Sun-Wei Guo et al. from the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

• Association between Apolipoprotein E Polymorphisms and Age-related Macular Degeneration: A HuGE Review and Meta-Analysis (132KB)
  Ammarin Thakkinstian from Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
  (American Journal of Epidemiology, Advance Access)

Two new HuGE Reviews were proposed in August:

• Polymorphisms of the Adiponectin Gene and Obesity
  Diane Smelser

• The glutathione S-transferase variants as possible risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma
  Hashem El-Serag and Donna L. White (Baylor College of Medicine)

• List of completed HuGE Reviews
• List of HuGE Review topics under development

HuGENet™ released the first edition of the HuGENet™ Handbook of Systematic Reviews   in March 2006. All new HuGE reviews should follow the guidance in this document.

This month HuGENet™ is pleased to spotlight The Human Variome Project  . This organization of international collaborators aims to collect all genetic variations within the human genome in a freely accessible system for use by researchers and health professionals.
 
If you are a HuGENet™ collaborator and have a web page you would like to showcase, please email HuGE@cdc.gov. Indicate in your subject heading "HuGENet™ collaborator home page."

• View the entire list of HuGENet™ Collaborators
• Learn how to become a HuGENet™ collaborator

As of September 1, 2006, the HuGENet™ website contains 22,989 research studies indexed in the HuGE Published Literature database, referencing 2,472 genes, 830 factors (personal or environmental), and 2,773 health outcomes/diseases.  Both epidemiologic studies and review articles can be found in the database which includes 313 meta-analyses and 94 pooled analyses.  Please see the GDPInfo Summary of Contents for more details.

Note: The count of health outcomes indexed in the database is based on a query that groups similar outcomes according to ICD-9 codes.  This figure is different from the total numbers of records listed in the Genomics and Disease Prevention Information system (GDPInfo) portal Health Topics A-Z.

Search for specific HuGENet™ content using the Advanced Search feature in the GDPInfo query tool.

Provides link to non-governmental sites and does not necessarily represent the views of the Centers  for Disease Control and Prevention.