Alisha Aman
349 BHF-Glasgow Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences
University of Glasgow
G12 8TA
Email: a.aman.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Research title: Phenomic and pharmacogenomic dissection of blood pressure GW
Research Summary
Project title: Phenomic and pharmacogenomic dissection of blood pressure GWAS loci to prioritise pathways for translation.
The known genetic architecture of blood pressure includes around 30 rare mutations resulting in inherited forms of hypertension or hypotension and over 1400 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The majority of the GWAS-identified BP SNPs show pleiotropic associations and unravelling these signals and their underpinning biological pathways will enhance understanding of molecular mechanisms that regulate BP leading to new treatment and ultimately improve the categorisation of subtypes of hypertension. Our pilot studies show that over 100 blood pressure GWAS loci contain drugs that are either licensed for hypertension treatment or influence blood pressure levels. The primary objective of this PhD is to develop an integrated analysis of pleiotropy and pharmacogenomics in the dissection of BP GWAS loci. This will be achieved through a systematic analysis of pleiotropic associations, mendelian randomisation studies and phenome-wide association studies using UK Biobank. The primary outcome of this project will be the generation of compelling data on a set of GWAS loci that will lead on to new drug development or drug repurposing studies.
Supervisors
Conference
- Canadian Vascular Network Summer School, Montreal, Canada (August 2019)
- Brainstorm meeting for the Global Challenge Research Fund application at New Delhi (March 2018) and Sri Lanka (December 2017) in collaboration with University of Glasgow MVLS and Business School, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Nepal, and Malaysia.
- Oral presentation - European Society of Hypertension (ESH) annual meeting, Milan (June 2017)
- Poster Presentation -Indian Genetics Congress, Chennai (February 2015)