Grand Challenges: Accurate, Equitable, and Transparent Genetic Ancestry Inference

Michael Cummings Awarded Grand Challenges Grant to Advance Genetic Analyses 

March 29, 2023

The project is developing improved computational methods to more accurately infer genetic ancestry at the sub-chromosome level, i.e., segments of chromosomes. To more fully achieve healthcare justice, and to separate genetic factors from social and environmental sources of health disparity, the genetic diversity of individuals must be recognized at the level of their chromosomal segments. More generally, the information gained from these ancestry inferences is significant in clinical research as well as in the understanding of the general principles governing population genetics, evolution, and the genetic basis of human biology.