Amish Complex Genetic Disease Research Program
Dr. Shuldiner and Amish boy
The Old Order Amish (OOA) population of Lancaster County, PA immigrated to the Colonies from Western Europe in the early 1700’s. There are now over 35,000 OOA individuals in the Lancaster area, nearly all of whom can trace their ancestry back 12-14 generations to approximately 700 founders. Investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have been studying the genetic determinants of cardiometabolic health in this population since 1993. To date, over 7,000 Amish adults have participated in one or more of our studies.
The Amish Research Group includes investigators with a diverse range of interests in population and basic science and in clinical and translational research.
Areas of Interest Include:
- Epidemiology and genetic epidemiology
- Gene mapping, including linkage and association analysis
- Novel statistical methods for pedigree analysis
- DNA sequencing
- Gene function
- DNA methylation and imprinting
- Animal models
- Intervention studies