From genes to programs to traits: building causal models for human genetics with GWAS and perturb-seq
Event details
| Date | 23.02.2026 |
| Hour | 13:30 › 14:30 |
| Speaker | Jonathan Pritchard, Professor of Biology and Genetics at Stanford University |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract:
Biography:
Jonathan Pritchard is Professor of Biology and Genetics at Stanford University. He grew up in England, and studied at Penn State, Stanford, and Oxford. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2001 and returned to Stanford University in 2013. His lab has done wide-ranging research on using genetics to study human population structure, history, and adaptation, and on understanding the mechanisms by which genetic variation affects gene regulation and complex traits. One of his major early contributions was the Structure algorithm, which uses genetic data to infer population structure and personal ancestry. One major current focus is on how to use experimental perturbation methods to model human gene regulatory networks and the genetic basis of complex traits, with a particular focus on immune cells and traits. His lab has been recognized with various honors, including Dr. Pritchard’s election to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2025.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a unique and powerful tool for identifying causal links from variants to genes to human traits and diseases. Although modern GWAS gives an information-rich readout of the relevant variants and genes, it remains very challenging to turn this into mechanistic models of disease and clinical applications. In this talk I will describe how new genome-wide CRISPR-based perturbations provide a critical interpretive key for human genetics data, including our recent proof-of-concept study inferring causal graphs for red blood cell-related traits such as hemoglobin levels, and our new genome-wide perturb-seq of primary T cells in multiple stimulation contexts. I will close with a broader discussion of the opportunities and open challenges in this field.
Jonathan Pritchard is Professor of Biology and Genetics at Stanford University. He grew up in England, and studied at Penn State, Stanford, and Oxford. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2001 and returned to Stanford University in 2013. His lab has done wide-ranging research on using genetics to study human population structure, history, and adaptation, and on understanding the mechanisms by which genetic variation affects gene regulation and complex traits. One of his major early contributions was the Structure algorithm, which uses genetic data to infer population structure and personal ancestry. One major current focus is on how to use experimental perturbation methods to model human gene regulatory networks and the genetic basis of complex traits, with a particular focus on immune cells and traits. His lab has been recognized with various honors, including Dr. Pritchard’s election to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2025.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Bart Deplancke