Posted By: The American Journal of Human Genetics, AJHG
Each month, the editors of The American Journal of Human Genetics interview an author of a recently published paper. This month, we check in with Seth Temple, PhD (LinkedIn; X), to discuss his recent paper “Multiple-testing corrections in selection scans using identity-by-descent segments.”
AJHG: What motivated you to start working on this project?
ST: Previously, we proposed a haplotype-based scan for recent selection and validated the results in real data using known selected loci in European ancestry groups. We aimed to broaden our scope to more ancestry groups that are often underrepresented in human genetics studies. This objective required us to develop a statistically sound approach to derive genome-wide significance levels.
AJHG: What about the paper/project most excites you?
ST: I strive to make methods that are useful to the research community. I put in a lot of work to make the software implementation and documentation accessible to a broad audience. Additionally, I designed the hypothesis test to be easily interpretable for researchers with varying levels of statistical backgrounds.
AJHG: Thinking about the bigger picture, what implications do you see from this work for the larger human genetics community?
ST: Beyond selection studies, the scan might detect regions with complex haplotype structure that could be relevant to the medical genetics community. For instance, I show in a new follow-up paper that loci identified in our selection scan could confound the findings of a case-control study.
AJHG: What advice do you have for trainees/young scientists?
ST: Take up a new hobby or learn a new skill where you can see steady progress. I learned to ice skate during my PhD, which gave me some confidence in times when I was confronting a challenging research problem.
AJHG: And for fun, tell us something about your life outside of the lab.
ST: This upcoming winter, I joined a ski racing team and hope to compete in some slalom and giant slalom races.
Seth Temple, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan.