Objectives

• Identify osteoporosis susceptibility alleles for fracture risk and for bone phenotypes (meta-analysis).
• Seek replication and explore the generalizibility of the associations by prospective meta-analysis.
• Explore the genetic basis of more novel bone phenotypes such as quantative ultrasound, bone geometry, and biochemical markers and gene-environment interactions.
• Seek clinical translation of the results by evaluating identified risk alleles for their predictive power in prospective cohorts with documented classical risk factors for osteooporosis.
• Summarize the data from the project in the context of the whole field by publishing datasynopses at regular intervals.

Work Packages

1. Identify osteoporosis susceptibility alleles that regulate BMD and fracture risk by performing meta-analysis of ongoing and already funded GWA studies in a large collection of cohorts from Europe and outside, of Caucasian origin.
2. Seek replication and explore the generalizability of the associations by prospective meta-analysis in the large extended GENOMOS collection of samples with osteoporosis phenotypes
3. Apply prospective meta-analysis as before, for the novel genes coming from the GWA efforts as well as for the replication phase
4. Explore the genetic basis of novel/alternative bone endophenotypes such as quantitative ultrasound, bone geometry, and biochemical markers.
5. Evaluate risk alleles identified by these aproaches for their predicitive power in prospective cohorts with documented classical risk factors for osteoporosis.
6. Examine genetic polymorphisms that are determined by WP3 for their interactions with their interactions with measurable environmental exposures. That will be considered are: quantative measures of diet, smoking and physical activity.
7. Summarize the data at regular intervals by preparing and publishing data-synopses
8. Coordination of the GEFOS consortium

Management structure

Pert Diagram