- Lectures
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences
- Location
B1B Lecture Room, IBMS
- Speaker Name
Dr. Atsuko Okazaki (Juntendo Univ., Tokyo)
- State
Definitive
- Url
Dr. Okazaki has a diverse background that includes specializations in cardiology, general medicine, clinical genetics, bioinformatics, statistical genetics, genetic epidemiology, and a Master of Public Health degree. Over the past 20 years, her group has performed biochemical and genetic diagnosis on more than 3000 patients with mitochondrial disease, which we have shown to have a poor prognosis of up to 40% in childhood-onset cases. Dr. Okazaki has been investigating the underlying causes of mitochondrial disease. Given that a certain number of patients remain undiagnosed, she has been investigating a novel statistical genetics method to identify novel disease genes. Her group is also investigating a novel therapeutic agent that improves mitochondrial function. Here I would like to discuss the application of statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology to clinical genetics, including the exploration of variants associated with longevity using national biobank data.