NEW YORK — The National Human Genome Research Institute this week said it is planning to commit up to $33.8 million over five years to establish a research consortium focused on expanding the use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) for health and disease prediction in diverse populations.
According to the NHGRI, the planned Centers for Polygenic Risk Score Methods and Analysis for Populations of Diverse Ancestry will work to standardize genomic and phenotype data, and mapping to existing ontologies; develop methods to incorporate ancestry data into PRS; and generate and refine PRS data for risk prediction in diverse populations.
Consortium members will also be expected to integrate and disseminate PRS data, validate the clinical use of PRS, and identify secondary uses for such data in medical research.
The NHGRI expects to provide approximately $25 million from fiscal years 2021 to 2025 to fund three to five centers under the initiative, as well as $8.8 million over that period for one coordinating center.
The agency said it expects to formally announce the funding opportunities in mid-January. Additional details can be found here and here.