Plain Language Summary
Analyzes 93,936 participants from the UCLA ATLAS Community Health Initiative biobank, linking genetic data with electronic health records across 5 continental and 36 fine-scale ancestry groups to advance precision medicine. Identifies novel gene-phenotype associations and tests polygenic scores for common diseases including diabetes and obesity—conditions where GLP-1 RAs including semaglutide are primary therapies. Demonstrates the value of genetically diverse biobanks for discovering population-specific pharmacogenomic associations relevant to GLP-1 RA response prediction.
Abstract
Linking genetic data with electronic health records in hospital biobanks promises to advance precision medicine, but limited ancestral diversity constrains discovery and generalizability. We analyzed 93,936 participants from the UCLA ATLAS Community Health Initiative to inform disease prevalence and genetic risk across five continental and 36 fine-scale ancestry groups. We discovered numerous unreported gene-phenotype associations, including FN3K with intestinal disaccharidase deficiency in Europeans and admixed Americans. Polygenic scores (PGS) robustly predicted common diseases, with effects markedly diminished in non-Europeans. Furthermore, we reduced the pronounced European bias in curated clinical variants using computational predictors, uncovering unreported disease-gene associations, including ANKZF1 and peripheral vascular disease in African Americans. Longitudinal data revealed that semaglutide efficacy varies across ancestries, is associated with PGS for type 2 diabetes, and is modulated by genetic variation in PTPRU. These findings illustrate how ancestrally diverse biobanks from a single health system yield robust disease associations and pharmacogenomic insights.
Authors
Haas, Roni; Margolis, Michael P; Wei, Angela; Yamaguchi, Takafumi N; Feng, Jeffrey; Tran, Thai; Tozzo, Veronica; Queen, Katelyn J; Mootor, Mohammed Faizal Eeman; Patil, Vishakha; Broudy, Michael E; Tung, Paul; Alam, Shafiul; Martinez, Danielle B; Patel, Yash; Caggiano, Christa; Zeltser, Nicole; Hugh-White, Rupert; Arbet, Jaron; Shemirani, Ruhollah; Tian, Mao; Thapaliya, Prapti; Eloyan, Lora; Chen, Lawrence O; Lapinska, Sandra; Ariannejad, Maryam; Lajonchere, Clara; Kenny, Eimear E; Pasaniuc, Bogdan; Bui, Alex A T; Arboleda, Valerie A; Chang, Timothy S; Zaitlen, Noah; Spellman, Paul T; Boutros, Paul C; Geschwind, Daniel H