NeuroTexas Institute launches breakthrough study seeking to understand how common human diseases are interconnected by genetics

11/11/09

Human diseases commonly arise when one or more genes do not work properly or altogether do not function. A goal of modern biomedical research is therefore to understand the mechanism(s) by which genes, acting in unison or in combination with other genes, underlie human disease. Taking this one step further, biologists would like to know how human diseases are related by their underlying genes. There are two primary reasons why the latter question remains unanswered.

First and foremost, physicians and researchers would need to gather vast amounts of hospital data about the diseases that affect humans. Second, new computational tools are required to decipher the information contained in the data. Much progress has been made towards developing powerful new computational tools, yet there remains scant data with which to test many fundamental hypotheses about the interconnectedness of human diseases and their underlying genes. The recently launched NeuroTexas Institute Center for Computational Neuroscience is assembling one of the largest medical records datasets in the Nation. This dataset will contain all hospital codes (ICD-9 codes) for millions of admissions to hospitals across the United States.

Our scientists, in collaboration with University of Texas researchers, will use these hospital codes to construct dynamic network models of the connectedness of human disease. These models can then be used to provide insights by the genes that underlie them. This study also promises to be of great interest to public health researchers because if will offer the opportunity to understand how diseases and their comorbid conditions may manifest differently depending on locale and demographic factors such as age, gender, or ethnicity. Ultimately, this work may be a small step towards clinical care that is more precisely tailored to individual patients. Stay tuned…

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