Details

Objectives

  • Identify osteoporosis susceptibility alleles for fracture risk and for bone phenotypes (meta-analysis).
  • Seek replication and explore the generalizibility of the associations by prospective meta-analysis.
  • Explore the genetic basis of more novel bone phenotypes such as quantative ultrasound, bone geometry, and biochemical markers and gene-environment interactions.
  • Seek clinical translation of the results by evaluating identified risk alleles for their predictive power in prospective cohorts with documented classical risk factors for osteooporosis.
  • Summarize the data from the project in the context of the whole field by publishing datasynopses at regular intervals.

Work Package

  • Identify osteoporosis susceptibility alleles that regulate BMD and fracture risk by performing meta-analysis of ongoing and already funded GWA studies in a large collection of cohorts from Europe and outside, of Caucasian origin.
  • Seek replication and explore the generalizability of the associations by prospective meta-analysis in the large extended GENOMOS collection of samples with osteoporosis phenotypes.
  • Apply prospective meta-analysis as before, for the novel genes coming from the GWA efforts as well as for the replication phase.
  • Explore the genetic basis of novel/alternative bone endophenotypes such as quantitative ultrasound, bone geometry, and biochemical markers.
  • Evaluate risk alleles identified by these aproaches for their predicitive power in prospective cohorts with documented classical risk factors for osteoporosis.
  • Examine genetic polymorphisms that are determined by WP3 for their interactions with their interactions with measurable environmental exposures. That will be considered are: quantative measures of diet, smoking and physical activity.
  • Summarize the data at regular intervals by preparing and publishing data-synopses.
  • Coordination of the GEFOS consortium.

Management structure

Pert Diagram