This study identifies Parkinson's disease susceptibility variants in a South African cohort using GWAS and local ancestry analysis, highlighting ancestry-specific genetic risk factors.

medRxiv · Aug 1, 2025 · PreprintGenetic & Genomic Medicine

Confirmation of HLA-II associations with TB susceptibility in admixed African samples

Dayna Adrienne Croock, Yolandi Swart, Haiko Schurz, Desiree C. Petersen, Marlo Möller, Caitlin Uren

This study confirms an association between HLA-II region variants and TB susceptibility in admixed South African samples using the LAAA model.

eLife · Jun 3, 2025Peer-reviewedGenetic & Genomic Medicine

cis-eQTL mapping of TB-T2D comorbidity elucidates the involvement of African ancestry in TB susceptibility

Yolandi Swart, Caitlin Uren, Clare Eckold, Jacqueline M. Cliff, Stephanus Theron Malherbe, Katharina Ronacher, Vinod Kumar, Cisca Wijmenga, Hazel M. Dockrell, Reinout van Crevel, Gerhard Walzl, Léanie Kleynhans, Marlo Möller

This study identifies ancestry-specific eQTLs in TB-T2D patients using cis-eQTL mapping, revealing variants associated with gene expression that could guide therapeutic targets in African populations.

bioRxiv · Oct 19, 2022 · PreprintGenetics

GWAS in the Southern African context

Yolandi Swart, Gerald van Eeden, Caitlin Uren, Gian D van der Spuy, Gerard C. Tromp, Marlo Möller

The paper evaluates the performance of the LAAA model in detecting causal variants in complex admixed southern African populations and recommends using multiple GWAS models.

PLoS ONE · Sep 28, 2022Peer-reviewedGenetics