icd9

Current methods to identify gene-disease associations primarily rely on clinical trials or observational cohorts to identify patients.  At Vanderbilt, we have used an EMR-linked DNA biobank called BioVU to derive case and controls populations using data within the EMR to define clinical phenotypes.  Genetic data for these EMR-linked association studies are redeposited into BioVU for future EMR-linked studies.  This has opened the possibility of "reverse GWAS" or "Phenome-wide association studies" (PheWAS).