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Complex trait-associated genetic variation is highly pleiotropic. This extensive pleiotropy implies that multi-phenotype analyses are informative for characterizing genetic associations, as they facilitate the discovery of trait-shared and trait-specific variants and pathways ("genetic factors"). Previous efforts have estimated genetic factors using matrix factorization (MF) applied to numerous GWAS. However, existing methods are susceptible to spurious factors arising from residual confounding due to sample-sharing in biobank GWAS. Furthermore, MF approaches have historically estimated dense factors, loaded on most traits and variants, that are challenging to map onto interpretable biological pathways. To address these shortcomings, we introduce "GWAS latent embeddings accounting for noise and regularization" (GLEANR), a MF method for detection of sparse genetic factors from summary statistics. GLEANR accounts for sample sharing between studies and uses regularization to estimate a data-driven number of interpretable factors. GLEANR is robust to confounding induced by shared samples and improves the replication of genetic factors derived from distinct biobanks. We used GLEANR to evaluate 137 diverse GWAS from the UK Biobank, identifying 58 factors that decompose the genetic architecture of input traits and have distinct signatures of negative selection and degrees of polygenicity. These sparse factors can be interpreted with respect to disease, cell-type, and pathway enrichment. We highlight three such factors capturing platelet measure phenotypes and enriched for disease-relevant markers corresponding to distinct stages of platelet differentiation. Overall, GLEANR is a powerful tool for discovering both trait-specific and trait-shared pathways underlying complex traits from GWAS summary statistics.

The effects of genetic variation on complex traits act mainly through changes in gene regulation. Although many genetic variants have been linked to target genes in cis, the trans-regulatory cascade mediating their effects remains largely uncharacterized. Mapping trans-regulators based on natural genetic variation has been challenging due to small effects, but experimental perturbations offer a complementary approach. Using CRISPR, we knocked out 84 genes in primary CD4 + T cells, targeting inborn error of immunity (IEI) disease transcription factors (TFs) and TFs without immune disease association. We developed a novel gene network inference method called linear latent causal Bayes (LLCB) to estimate the network from perturbation data and observed 211 regulatory connections between genes. We characterized programs affected by the TFs, which we associated with immune genome-wide association study (GWAS) genes, finding that JAK-STAT family members are regulated by KMT2A, an epigenetic regulator. These analyses reveal the trans-regulatory cascades linking GWAS genes to signaling pathways., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests A.M. is a cofounder of Site Tx, Arsenal Biosciences, Spotlight Therapeutics, and Survey Genomics; serves on the boards of directors at Site Tx, Spotlight Therapeutics, and Survey Genomics; is a member of the scientific advisory boards of Site Tx, Arsenal Biosciences, Cellanome, Spotlight Therapeutics, Survey Genomics, NewLimit, Amgen, and Tenaya; owns stock in Arsenal Biosciences, Site Tx, Cellanome, Spotlight Therapeutics, NewLimit, Survey Genomics, Tenaya, and Lightcast; and has received fees from Site Tx, Arsenal Biosciences, Cellanome, Spotlight Therapeutics, NewLimit, Gilead, Pfizer, 23andMe, PACT Pharma, Juno Therapeutics, Tenaya, Lightcast, Trizell, Vertex, Merck, Amgen, Genentech, GLG, ClearView Healthcare, AlphaSights, Rupert Case Management, Bernstein, and ALDA. A.M. is an investor in and informal advisor to Offline Ventures and a client of EPIQ. The Marson laboratory has received research support from the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Emerson Collective, Arc Institute, Juno Therapeutics, Epinomics, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, and Anthem and reagents from Genscript and Illumina. J.W.F. was a consultant for NewLimit, is an employee of Genentech, and has equity in Roche. A.B. is a stockholder in Alphabet, Inc., and a consultant for Third Rock Ventures. J.S.W. was a consultant to Spiral Genetics., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is defined by the expansion of a lineage of genetically identical cells in blood. Genetic lesions that confer a fitness advantage, such as point mutations or mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs) in genes associated with hematologic malignancy, are frequent mediators of CH. However, recent analyses of both single cell-derived colonies of hematopoietic cells and population sequencing cohorts have revealed CH frequently occurs in the absence of known driver genetic lesions. To characterize CH without known driver genetic lesions, we used 51,399 deeply sequenced whole genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed sequencing initiative to perform simultaneous germline and somatic mutation analyses among individuals without leukemogenic point mutations (LPM), which we term CH-LPMneg. We quantified CH by estimating the total mutation burden. Because estimating somatic mutation burden without a paired-tissue sample is challenging, we developed a novel statistical method, the Genomic and Epigenomic informed Mutation (GEM) rate, that uses external genomic and epigenomic data sources to distinguish artifactual signals from true somatic mutations. We performed a genome-wide association study of GEM to discover the germline determinants of CH-LPMneg. After fine-mapping and variant-to-gene analyses, we identified seven genes associated with CH-LPMneg ( TCL1A, TERT, SMC4, NRIP1, PRDM16 , MSRA , SCARB1 ), and one locus associated with a sex-associated mutation pathway ( SRGAP2C) . We performed a secondary analysis excluding individuals with mCAs, finding that the genetic architecture was largely unaffected by their inclusion. Functional analyses of SMC4 and NRIP1 implicated altered HSC self-renewal and proliferation as the primary mediator of mutation burden in blood. We then performed comprehensive multi-tissue transcriptomic analyses, finding that the expression levels of 404 genes are associated with GEM. Finally, we performed phenotypic association meta-analyses across four cohorts, finding that GEM is associated with increased white blood cell count and increased risk for incident peripheral artery disease, but is not significantly associated with incident stroke or coronary disease events. Overall, we develop GEM for quantifying mutation burden from WGS without a paired-tissue sample and use GEM to discover the genetic, genomic, and phenotypic correlates of CH-LPMneg., Competing Interests: Competing Interests Declaration L.M.R. is a consultant for the TOPMed Administrative Coordinating Center (through Westat). B.M.P. serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. J.Y. reports grant support from Bayer. M.C. reports grant support from Bayer and GSK, Consulting and speaking fees from Illumina and AstraZeneca. A.G.B., P.N, and S.J. are cofounders, equity holders, and on the scientific advisory board of TenSixteen Bio. G.R.A. is an employee of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and receives salary, stock and stock options as compensation.

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), whereby somatic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells confer a selective advantage and drive clonal expansion, not only correlates with age but also confers increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Here, we leverage genetically predicted traits to identify factors that determine CHIP clonal expansion rate. We used the passenger-approximated clonal expansion rate method to quantify the clonal expansion rate for 4,370 individuals in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) cohort and calculated polygenic risk scores for DNA methylation aging, inflammation-related measures and circulating protein levels. Clonal expansion rate was significantly associated with both genetically predicted and measured epigenetic clocks. No associations were identified with inflammation-related lab values or diseases and CHIP expansion rate overall. A proteome-wide search identified predicted circulating levels of myeloid zinc finger 1 and anti-Müllerian hormone as associated with an increased CHIP clonal expansion rate and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 and glycine N-methyltransferase as associated with decreased CHIP clonal expansion rate. Together, our findings identify epigenetic and proteomic patterns associated with the rate of hematopoietic clonal expansion., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is characterized by the acquisition of a somatic mutation in a hematopoietic stem cell that results in a clonal expansion. These driver mutations can be single nucleotide variants in cancer driver genes or larger structural rearrangements called mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs). The factors that influence the variations in mCA fitness and ultimately result in different clonal expansion rates are not well understood. We used the Passenger-Approximated Clonal Expansion Rate (PACER) method to estimate clonal expansion rate as PACER scores for 6,381 individuals in the NHLBI TOPMed cohort with gain, loss, and copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity mCAs. Our mCA fitness estimates, derived by aggregating per-individual PACER scores, were correlated (R 2  = 0.49) with an alternative approach that estimated fitness of mCAs in the UK Biobank using population-level distributions of clonal fraction. Among individuals with JAK2 V617F clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential or mCAs affecting the JAK2 gene on chromosome 9, PACER score was strongly correlated with erythrocyte count. In a cross-sectional analysis, genome-wide association study of estimates of mCA expansion rate identified a TCL1A locus variant associated with mCA clonal expansion rate, with suggestive variants in NRIP1 and TERT., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Nononcogenic somatic mutations are thought to be uncommon and inconsequential. To test this, we analyzed 43,693 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine blood whole genomes from 37 cohorts and identified 7131 non-missense somatic mutations that are recurrently mutated in at least 50 individuals. These recurrent non-missense somatic mutations (RNMSMs) are not clearly explained by other clonal phenomena such as clonal hematopoiesis. RNMSM prevalence increased with age, with an average 50-year-old having 27 RNMSMs. Inherited germline variation associated with RNMSM acquisition. These variants were found in genes involved in adaptive immune function, proinflammatory cytokine production, and lymphoid lineage commitment. In addition, the presence of eight specific RNMSMs associated with blood cell traits at effect sizes comparable to Mendelian genetic mutations. Overall, we found that somatic mutations in blood are an unexpectedly common phenomenon with ancestry-specific determinants and human health consequences.

Mutations in a diverse set of driver genes increase the fitness of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), leading to clonal haematopoiesis 1 . These lesions are precursors for blood cancers 2-6 , but the basis of their fitness advantage remains largely unknown, partly owing to a paucity of large cohorts in which the clonal expansion rate has been assessed by longitudinal sampling. Here, to circumvent this limitation, we developed a method to infer the expansion rate from data from a single time point. We applied this method to 5,071 people with clonal haematopoiesis. A genome-wide association study revealed that a common inherited polymorphism in the TCL1A promoter was associated with a slower expansion rate in clonal haematopoiesis overall, but the effect varied by driver gene. Those carrying this protective allele exhibited markedly reduced growth rates or prevalence of clones with driver mutations in TET2, ASXL1, SF3B1 and SRSF2, but this effect was not seen in clones with driver mutations in DNMT3A. TCL1A was not expressed in normal or DNMT3A-mutated HSCs, but the introduction of mutations in TET2 or ASXL1 led to the expression of TCL1A protein and the expansion of HSCs in vitro. The protective allele restricted TCL1A expression and expansion of mutant HSCs, as did experimental knockdown of TCL1A expression. Forced expression of TCL1A promoted the expansion of human HSCs in vitro and mouse HSCs in vivo. Our results indicate that the fitness advantage of several commonly mutated driver genes in clonal haematopoiesis may be mediated by TCL1A activation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Age-related changes to the genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) pattern observed in blood are well-documented. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), characterized by the age-related acquisition and expansion of leukemogenic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), is associated with blood cancer and coronary artery disease (CAD). Epigenetic regulators DNMT3A and TET2 are the two most frequently mutated CHIP genes. Here, we present results from an epigenome-wide association study for CHIP in 582 Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) participants, with replication in 2655 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study participants. We show that DNMT3A and TET2 CHIP have distinct and directionally opposing genome-wide DNAm association patterns consistent with their regulatory roles, albeit both promoting self-renewal of HSCs. Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that a subset of DNAm alterations associated with these two leading CHIP genes may promote the risk for CAD., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Human genetic studies support an inverse causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and coronary artery disease (CAD), but directionally mixed effects for LTL and diverse malignancies. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), characterized by expansion of hematopoietic cells bearing leukemogenic mutations, predisposes both hematologic malignancy and CAD. TERT (which encodes telomerase reverse transcriptase) is the most significantly associated germline locus for CHIP in genome-wide association studies. Here, we investigated the relationship between CHIP, LTL, and CAD in the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program ( n = 63,302) and UK Biobank ( n = 47,080). Bidirectional Mendelian randomization studies were consistent with longer genetically imputed LTL increasing propensity to develop CHIP, but CHIP then, in turn, hastens to shorten measured LTL (mLTL). We also demonstrated evidence of modest mediation between CHIP and CAD by mLTL. Our data promote an understanding of potential causal relationships across CHIP and LTL toward prevention of CAD.

BACKGROUNDCurative gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) are currently undergoing clinical evaluation. The occurrence of myeloid malignancies in these trials has prompted safety concerns. Individuals with SCD are predisposed to myeloid malignancies, but the underlying causes remain undefined. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is a premalignant condition that also confers significant predisposition to myeloid cancers. While it has been speculated that CH may play a role in SCD-associated cancer predisposition, limited data addressing this issue have been reported.METHODSHere, we leveraged 74,190 whole-genome sequences to robustly study CH in SCD. Somatic mutation calling methods were used to assess CH in all samples and comparisons between individuals with and without SCD were performed.RESULTSWhile we had sufficient power to detect a greater than 2-fold increased rate of CH, we found no detectable variation in rate or clone properties between individuals affected by SCD and controls. The rate of CH in individuals with SCD was unaltered by hydroxyurea use.CONCLUSIONSWe did not observe an increased risk for acquiring detectable CH in SCD, at least as measured by whole-genome sequencing. These results should help guide ongoing efforts and further studies that seek to better define the risk factors underlying myeloid malignancy predisposition in SCD and help ensure that curative therapies can be more safely applied.FUNDINGNew York Stem Cell Foundation and the NIH.

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWAS for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally-diverse individuals (European, African, Asian and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n=109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p-value <5×10 -9 ) in 36 loci associated with telomere length, including 20 newly associated loci (13 were replicated in external datasets). There was little evidence of effect size heterogeneity across populations. Fine-mapping at OBFC1 indicated the independent signals colocalized with cell-type specific eQTLs for OBFC1 ( STN1 ). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B ( SNM1B ) and PARN . In PheWAS, we demonstrated our TL polygenic trait scores (PTS) were associated with increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests: The authors declare the following competing interests: J.C.C. has received research materials from GlaxoSmithKline and Merck (inhaled steroids) and Pharmavite (vitamin D and placebo capsules) to provide medications free of cost to participants in NIH-funded studies, unrelated to the current work. B.I.F. is a consultant for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and RenalytixAI L.W. is on the advisory board for GlaxoSmithKline and receives grant funding from NIAID, NHLBI, and NIDDK, NIH I.V.Y. is a consultant for ElevenP15 S.A. receives equity and salary from 23andMe, Inc. M.H.C. receives grant support from GlaxoSmithKline S.T.W. receives royalties from UpToDate E.K.S. received grant support from GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer in the past three years. B.M.P. serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. F.D.M. is supported by grants from NIH/NHLBI (HL139054,HL091889,HL132523,HL130045,HL098112,HL056177), the NIH/NIEHS (ES006614), the NIH/NIAID (AI126614), and the NIH/ Office of Director (OD023282). Vifor Pharmaceuticals provided medicine and additional funding to support recruitment for HL130045. Dr. Martinez is a council member for the Council for the Developing Child. P.T.E. is supported by a grant from Bayer AG to the Broad Institute focused on the genetics and therapeutics of cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Ellinor has also served on advisory boards or consulted for Bayer AG, Quest Diagnostics, and Novartis. K.C.B. receives royalties from UpToDate G.A. is an employee of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and owns stock and stock options for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. A.M. is an employee of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and owns stock and stock options for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. A.B. is a consultant for Third Rock Ventures, LLC and holds stock in Google, Inc. D.A.S. is the founder and chief scientific officer of Eleven P15, a company focused on the early diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis

Clonal hematopoiesis results from somatic mutations in cancer driver genes in hematopoietic stem cells. We sought to identify novel drivers of clonal expansion using an unbiased analysis of sequencing data from 84,683 persons and identified common mutations in the 5-methylcytosine reader, ZBTB33 , as well as in YLPM1 , SRCAP , and ZNF318 . We also identified these mutations at low frequency in myelodysplastic syndrome patients. Zbtb33 edited mouse hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells exhibited a competitive advantage in vivo and increased genome-wide intron retention. ZBTB33 mutations potentially link DNA methylation and RNA splicing, the two most commonly mutated pathways in clonal hematopoiesis and MDS., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest statement: B.L.E. has received research funding from Celgene and Deerfield. He has received consulting fees from GRAIL, and he serves on the scientific advisory boards for and holds equity in Skyhawk Therapeutics and Exo Therapeutics. S.J. has received consulting fees from GRAIL, Novartis, and Roche Genentech. M.H.C. has received grant support from GSK and Bayer and speaking and consulting fees from AstraZeneca and Illumina.

Background Presence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is associated with a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. The relationship between a healthy lifestyle and CHIP is unknown. Methods and Results This analysis included 8709 postmenopausal women (mean age, 66.5 years) enrolled in the WHI (Women's Health Initiative), free of cancer or cardiovascular disease, with deep-coverage whole genome sequencing data available. Information on lifestyle factors (body mass index, smoking, physical activity, and diet quality) was obtained, and a healthy lifestyle score was created on the basis of healthy criteria met (0 point [least healthy] to 4 points [most healthy]). CHIP was derived on the basis of a prespecified list of leukemogenic driver mutations. The prevalence of CHIP was 8.6%. A higher healthy lifestyle score was not associated with CHIP (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio [OR] [95% CI], 0.99 [0.80-1.23] and 1.13 [0.93-1.37]) for the upper (3 or 4 points) and middle category (2 points), respectively, versus referent (0 or 1 point). Across score components, a normal and overweight body mass index compared with obese was significantly associated with a lower odds for CHIP (OR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.57-0.88] and 0.83 [95% CI, 0.68-1.01], respectively; P -trend 0.0015). Having never smoked compared with being a current smoker tended to be associated with lower odds for CHIP. Conclusions A healthy lifestyle, based on a composite score, was not related to CHIP among postmenopausal women. However, across individual lifestyle factors, having a normal body mass index was strongly associated with a lower prevalence of CHIP. These findings support the idea that certain healthy lifestyle factors are associated with a lower frequency of CHIP.

Phenotypes extracted from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are increasingly prevalent in genetic studies. EHRs contain hundreds of distinct clinical laboratory test results, providing a trove of health data beyond diagnoses. Such lab data is complex and lacks a ubiquitous coding scheme, making it more challenging than diagnosis data. Here we describe the first large-scale cross-health system genome-wide association study (GWAS) of EHR-based quantitative laboratory-derived phenotypes. We meta-analyzed 70 lab traits matched between the BioVU cohort from the Vanderbilt University Health System and the Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) cohort from Michigan Medicine. We show high replication of known association for these traits, validating EHR-based measurements as high-quality phenotypes for genetic analysis. Notably, our analysis provides the first replication for 699 previous GWAS associations across 46 different traits. We discovered 31 novel associations at genome-wide significance for 22 distinct traits, including the first reported associations for two lab-based traits. We replicated 22 of these novel associations in an independent tranche of BioVU samples. The summary statistics for all association tests are freely available to benefit other researchers. Finally, we performed mirrored analyses in BioVU and MGI to assess competing analytic practices for EHR lab traits. We find that using the mean of all available lab measurements provides a robust summary value, but alternate summarizations can improve power in certain circumstances. This study provides a proof-of-principle for cross health system GWAS and is a framework for future studies of quantitative EHR lab traits., Competing Interests: I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: G.R.A. is an employee of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He owns stock and stock options for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. L.A.B and J.C.D receive royalty payments from Nashville Biosciences, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center owned entity.

Age is the dominant risk factor for most chronic human diseases, but the mechanisms through which ageing confers this risk are largely unknown 1 . The age-related acquisition of somatic mutations that lead to clonal expansion in regenerating haematopoietic stem cell populations has recently been associated with both haematological cancer 2-4 and coronary heart disease 5 -this phenomenon is termed clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) 6 . Simultaneous analyses of germline and somatic whole-genome sequences provide the opportunity to identify root causes of CHIP. Here we analyse high-coverage whole-genome sequences from 97,691 participants of diverse ancestries in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Trans-omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme, and identify 4,229 individuals with CHIP. We identify associations with blood cell, lipid and inflammatory traits that are specific to different CHIP driver genes. Association of a genome-wide set of germline genetic variants enabled the identification of three genetic loci associated with CHIP status, including one locus at TET2 that was specific to individuals of African ancestry. In silico-informed in vitro evaluation of the TET2 germline locus enabled the identification of a causal variant that disrupts a TET2 distal enhancer, resulting in increased self-renewal of haematopoietic stem cells. Overall, we observe that germline genetic variation shapes haematopoietic stem cell function, leading to CHIP through mechanisms that are specific to clonal haematopoiesis as well as shared mechanisms that lead to somatic mutations across tissues.

Array genotyping is a cost-effective and widely used tool that enables assessment of up to millions of genetic markers in hundreds of thousands of individuals. Genotyping array data are typically highly accurate but sensitive to mixing of DNA samples from multiple individuals before or during genotyping. Contaminated samples can lead to genotyping errors and consequently cause false positive signals or reduce power of association analyses. Here, we propose a new method to identify contaminated samples and the sources of contamination within a genotyping batch. Through analysis of array intensity and genotype data from intentionally mixed samples and 22,366 samples of the Michigan Genomics Initiative, an ongoing biobank-based study, we show that our method can reliably estimate contamination. We also show that identifying sources of contamination can implicate problematic sample processing steps and guide process improvements. Compared to existing methods, our approach can estimate the proportion of contaminating DNA more accurately, eliminate the need for external databases of allele frequencies, and provide contamination estimates that are more robust to the ancestral origin of the contaminating sample., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The power of genetic association analyses can be increased by jointly meta-analyzing multiple correlated phenotypes. Here, we develop a meta-analysis framework, Meta-MultiSKAT, that uses summary statistics to test for association between multiple continuous phenotypes and variants in a region of interest. Our approach models the heterogeneity of effects between studies through a kernel matrix and performs a variance component test for association. Using a genotype kernel, our approach can test for rare-variants and the combined effects of both common and rare-variants. To achieve robust power, within Meta-MultiSKAT, we developed fast and accurate omnibus tests combining different models of genetic effects, functional genomic annotations, multiple correlated phenotypes, and heterogeneity across studies. In addition, Meta-MultiSKAT accommodates situations where studies do not share exactly the same set of phenotypes or have differing correlation patterns among the phenotypes. Simulation studies confirm that Meta-MultiSKAT can maintain the type-I error rate at the exome-wide level of 2.5 × 10 -6 . Further simulations under different models of association show that Meta-MultiSKAT can improve the power of detection from 23% to 38% on average over single phenotype-based meta-analysis approaches. We demonstrate the utility and improved power of Meta-MultiSKAT in the meta-analyses of four white blood cell subtype traits from the Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) and SardiNIA studies., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Abstract Lesbian ex-lover relationships have frequently been noted as unique phenomena, yet they have received little empirical or theoretical attention. In this article, the available literature on lesbian ex-lovers is examined, as are possible factors and/or motivations among lesbians for maintaining ties with ex-lovers, and especially for constructing close friend and/or family connections among lesbian ex-lovers-what the author calls FLEX relationships. Three main types of factors/motivations are identified: (a) those that reflect a problematic developmental perspective, (b) contextual influences (such as lesbians' oppression as lesbians and women, socialization as girls and women, and the tendency for same-sex friendships), and (c) constructive challenges to traditional relational forms, family patterns and/or adult development models that offer alternative models for adult lives and relationships. Finally, the author considers the importance of attending to the ex-lover relational form and future directions this attention might take, closing with consideration of the implications for all of us-whatever our sexualities and gender identities-that may be drawn from telling constructive stories of friend/family relationships among lesbian ex-lovers.

Abstract Friendships between lesbians and heterosexual women were explored using a sample of 47 mostly White women (23 lesbians and 24 heterosexual women), ages 18 to 25, that reported at least one close lesbian-heterosexual woman friendship. A majority of participants indicated that friendships between lesbians and heterosexual women had both uniquely positive and negative aspects that could be attributed to the difference in sexual identity. Positive aspects included socio-emo-tional benefits, opportunities for learning, and societal benefits. Negative aspects included anxiety about sexuality, doubts regarding mutual understanding, clashes of perspectives and experience, and societal stressors. Implications of the findings for challenging current social inequities associated with sexual identities were explored.

The Listening Partners intervention is described and analyzed as a synthesis of feminism and community psychology, within a developmental framework. Working from an empowerment perspective, this social action, peer group intervention supported a community of poor, rural, isolated, young, White mothers to gain a greater voice, claim the powers of their minds, and collaborate in developmental leadership--creating settings that promote their own development and that of their families, peers, and communities. High quality dialogue, individual and group narrative, and collaborative problem-solving were emphasized, in a feminist context affirming diversity, inclusiveness, strengths, social-contextual analyses, and social constructivist perspectives. The power of enacting a synergy of feminism and community psychology is highlighted.