{"id":3143,"date":"2022-08-08T20:23:15","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T00:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/elsi\/?page_id=3143"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:52:08","slug":"beyond-the-medical-the-elsi-of-polygenic-scores-for-social-traits-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/elsi\/beyond-the-medical-the-elsi-of-polygenic-scores-for-social-traits-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Medical: The ELSI of Polygenic Scores for Social Traits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute R01HG012402<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Jean Cadigan<\/a>, PhD, M-PI<\/strong><\/td>\nAnya Prince<\/a>, MPP, JD, M-PI<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
University of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\nUniversity of Iowa, College of Law<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karen Meagher<\/a>, PhD, Co-investigator<\/td>\nShawneequa Callier<\/a>, JD, Co-investigator<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Temple University, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\nGeorge Washington University, <\/em>School of Medicine and Health Sciences
\n<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Margaret Waltz<\/a>, PhD<\/td>\nCourtney Canter, PhD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
University of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\nUniversity of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kriste Kuczynski<\/a>, BA (Project Manager)<\/td>\nSara Watson, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
University of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\nMayo Clinic, Department of Biomedical Ethics<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lia Kaz<\/a>, MSW<\/td>\nMatthew Kucmanic<\/a>, MA, MPH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
University of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\nUniversity of Iowa, School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Preya Agam, MPH
\n<\/em><\/td>\n		\u00a0<\/em>Anneliese Long<\/a>, PhD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mayo Clinic, Department of Biomedical Ethics<\/em><\/td>\n University of North Carolina, School of Medicine<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Project Description<\/h2>\n

In traditional predictive genetic testing, like<\/span> for<\/span> <\/span>BRCA <\/span><\/span>or Huntington\u2019s Disease, single gene variants are analyzed to determine whether an individual is at high risk of developing <\/span>a <\/span>disease. <\/span>The<\/span> vast majority of<\/span> diseases<\/span>, however,<\/span> are polygenic\u2014<\/span> caused by <\/span>many different genes<\/span>.<\/span> Polygenic<\/span> scores (PGS) <\/span><\/span>have been heralded for their promise to predict risk for <\/span>these more<\/span> complex diseases<\/span> like heart disease or diabetes<\/span> by <\/span><\/span>measuring the contribution of hundreds or thousands<\/span> of genetic variants at once. <\/span>Yet b<\/span>eyond prediction of health outcomes, the realm of \u2018<\/span>sociogenomics<\/span>\u2019 is developing scores measuring genetic contributions to social and behavioral factors, such as risk tolerance, income, educational attainment, sexuality, or optimism.<\/span> Sociogenomic<\/span> PGS<\/span> often<\/span> blur the lines between medical and social outcomes, such as with scores for drinking, smoking, or reproductive behavior.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This project addresses the following research questions:<\/p>\n