Lawrence F. Bielak

Multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores for the prediction of type 2 diabetes and complications in diverse ancestries.

This paper develops and validates multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes prediction and complications across diverse populations.

Genome-wide association study provides novel insight into the genetic architecture of severe obesity.

This study identifies novel genetic signals associated with severe obesity through GWAS and shows strong genetic overlap with BMI, highlighting shared comorbidities and lifestyle interactions.

Whole genome analysis of plasma fibrinogen reveals population-differentiated genetic regulators with putative liver roles.

This study uses whole genome sequencing to identify 18 novel genetic loci associated with plasma fibrinogen levels, including variants more common in African populations and linked to liver-related traits and disease.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide study in >2.5 million individuals reveals heterogeneity in mechanistic pathways of type 2 diabetes and complications

This study identifies 1,289 genetic signals for type 2 diabetes in 2.5 million individuals, revealing distinct clusters linked to vascular complications and highlighting ancestry-specific genetic risk factors.

Genome-wide analysis identifies genetic effects on reproductive success and ongoing natural selection at the FADS locus.

This study identifies 43 genomic loci associated with reproductive success in 785,604 individuals, showing ongoing natural selection at the FADS locus.

A framework for detecting noncoding rare variant associations of large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies

The paper introduces a framework for detecting noncoding rare variant associations using whole-genome sequencing data, applying it to lipid traits in the TOPMed program.

Whole Genome Sequence Association Analysis of Fasting Glucose and Fasting Insulin Levels in Diverse Cohorts from the NHLBI TOPMed Program

The paper performs whole genome sequence association analysis of fasting glucose and insulin levels in diverse cohorts, identifying 22 significant variants across 16 gene regions, including rare variants.

A Saturated Map of Common Genetic Variants Associated with Human Height from 5.4 Million Individuals of Diverse Ancestries

This study identifies 12,111 SNPs associated with height from 5.4 million individuals, explaining most common SNP-based heritability and showing ancestry-specific prediction accuracy.

Trans-ancestry genetic study of type 2 diabetes highlights the power of diverse populations for discovery and translation

This study identifies 277 T2D loci using diverse populations and improves fine-mapping to assess causal genes and mechanisms, enhancing clinical translation.

Rare coding variants in 35 genes associate with circulating lipid levels: a multi-ancestry analysis of 170,000 exomes

This study identifies 35 genes associated with circulating lipid levels using rare coding variants from 170,000 exomes across multiple ancestries.

A system for phenotype harmonization in the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program

The paper describes a system for harmonizing phenotype data across multiple studies in the TOPMed program, enabling reproducible and shared phenotype data for over 80 studies.

Within-sibship GWAS improve estimates of direct genetic effects

In 159,701 siblings from 17 cohorts, population GWAS overstate direct effects on height, education, smoking, cognition, depressive symptoms and age at first birth; clinical traits mostly agree across models.

Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program

Over 400 million variants, 97% below 1% frequency, emerge from deep whole-genome sequencing of 53,831 diverse TOPMed participants; TOPMed haplotypes enable imputation down to ~0.01% frequency.

Rare Non-coding Variation Identified by Large Scale Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Unexplained Heritability of Type 2 Diabetes: Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program

The paper identifies rare non-coding variants from whole genome sequencing in the TOPMed program, showing they contribute significantly to type 2 diabetes heritability.

The Trans-Ancestral Genomic Architecture of Glycaemic Traits

This study identifies 242 genetic loci for glycaemic traits using trans-ancestry meta-analysis, finding 99 novel loci and improved fine-mapping resolution compared to single-ancestry analyses.

Population sequencing data reveal a compendium of mutational processes in human germline

The paper decomposes mutation rate and spectra variation in human germline using blind source separation, identifying nine processes including those related to DNA damage and replication timing.

Tissue-Specific Alteration of Metabolic Pathways Influences Glycemic Regulation

The paper identifies genetic variants and transcripts associated with glycemic traits by analyzing exome-array data from 144,600 individuals, highlighting tissue-specific roles in glucose regulation.

Inherited Causes of Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential in TOPMed Whole Genomes

The paper identifies germline genetic variants associated with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) using whole genome sequences from the TOPMed program.

Evaluation of the causal effect of fibrinogen on incident coronary heart disease via Mendelian randomization

This paper evaluates the causal effect of fibrinogen on coronary heart disease using Mendelian randomization, finding a small effect with multi-variant methods but not with single variant approaches.

Loss-of-function genomic variants with impact on liver-related blood traits highlight potential therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease

The paper identifies loss-of-function variants affecting liver-related blood traits that reduce CVD risk without increasing metabolic disease risk, highlighting potential therapeutic targets.

PROTEIN-CODING VARIANTS IMPLICATE NOVEL GENES RELATED TO LIPID HOMEOSTASIS CONTRIBUTING TO BODY FAT DISTRIBUTION

This study identifies 15 common and 9 low-frequency protein-coding variants associated with body fat distribution, implicating novel genes related to lipid homeostasis and type 2 diabetes.

Efficient variant set mixed model association tests for continuous and binary traits in large-scale whole genome sequencing studies

The paper introduces SMMAT, a variant-set mixed model association test for continuous and binary traits in large-scale WGS studies, showing it controls type I error rates and applies to population structured and related samples.

Refining The Accuracy Of Validated Target Identification Through Coding Variant Fine-Mapping In Type 2 Diabetes

This study identifies 16 causal coding variants in type 2 diabetes using fine-mapping and shows that one third of signals are false leads.

Fine-mapping of an expanded set of type 2 diabetes loci to single-variant resolution using high-density imputation and islet-specific epigenome maps

This study fine-maps type 2 diabetes loci to single-variant resolution using high-density imputation and islet-specific epigenome maps, identifying 73 variants with >80% posterior probability of association.