Between the 25th and 28th of May, the University of Thessaly, in collaboration with the Institute of Translational Genomics and the Helmholtz Centre Munich, organized the Volos Summer School of Human Genetics. A range of topics was covered regarding the human genetics of complex traits, with a focus on the computational and statistical analysis of genome-wide data. Areas of focus were the conduct of genome-wide association studies, meta-analysis of several studies, and the joint analysis of multiple diseases/traits to understand pleiotropy. Under the guidance of Eleftheria Zeggini and her colleagues, the participants were assigned a project, in which they would have to propose a hypothetical human genetics study they’d like to conduct based on a specific phenotype. Awards would be given to the team with the best proposed research topic and to whoever delivered the best oral presentation.
Joanna Tzalla was given the award for best oral presentation after presenting with her team their work. The chosen topic was ‘Bipolar vs Depressive Genomics and Diagnostic Genetic Exploration’ where they presented in 10-minutes their approach on how to find differences between depression and bipolar disorder on a genotypic level and their differences in expression on a proteomic level.
