Last updated: May 08, 2012
Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN)
Overview
The Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) is a public-private partnership of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Inc. (FNIH) and includes partnerships with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the private sector.
GAIN supports a series of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) designed to identify specific points of DNA variation associated with the occurrence of a particular common disease. Investigators from existing case-control or trio (parent-offspring) studies were invited to submit samples and data on roughly 2,000 participants for assay of 300,000 to 500,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms designed to capture roughly 80 percent of the common variation in the human genome. Specific genes involved in disease processes can be identified once particular areas of the genome are associated with disease occurrence.
With the sequencing of the human genome, lower cost and more efficient technologies, and the exploration of common patterns of genetic variation through the International Haplotype Map (HapMap) project, we now have the techniques and tools necessary to uncover causal genes that contribute to disease susceptibility, and thus facilitate discovery of new molecular targets for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Applications for access to GAIN genotyping were submitted on May 9, 2006 and projects selected for genotyping were announced at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting on October 10, 2006. They include studies on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, diabetic nephropathy, major depressive disorder, psoriasis and schizophrenia. The resulting data has been deposited into the database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP) within the National Library of Medicine at the NIH for the broad use of the research community.
The GAIN Kick-off Meeting and Analysis Workshop was held November 29-30, 2006. For the agenda and presentations, see: GAIN Kick-Off Meeting and Analysis Workshop.
The second GAIN Analysis Workshop was held October 17-18, 2007. See: GAIN Analysis Workshop II for the agenda and presentations from the meeting.
The third and final GAIN Analysis Workshop was held November 10-11, 2008 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Investigators from each of the studies presented their findings alongside users of the genotype data from dbGaP, who were given a special release on the embargo period for the data for this meeting only. For the agenda see: GAIN Analysis III Workshop.
Now that the GAIN initiative has officially concluded, the resulting data from the GAIN studies have been deposited into the database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP) within the National Library of Medicine at the NIH for the broad use of the research community. Access is controlled by the GAIN Data Access Committee. Three GAIN Analysis Workshops were held over the course of the project, in November 2006, October 2007, and November, 2008.
GAIN Bibliography and Publications
GAIN Project Director for Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
David Wholley, M.A.
E-mail: wholleyd@mail.nih.gov
NHGRI GAIN Staff:
Teri Manolio, M.D., Ph.D.
E-mail: manolio@nih.gov
Lisa Brooks, Ph.D.
E-mail: brooksl@mail.nih.gov
Laura Lyman Rodriguez, Ph.D.
E-mail: rodrigla@mail.nih.gov