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Strug Lab

Summary

The Strug Lab is a statistical genetics and bioinformatics research group led by Dr. Lisa J. Strug at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto. The lab specializes in developing and applying statistical methods to identify genetic modifiers of complex traits, with a primary focus on cystic fibrosis (CF) and epilepsy. Their work spans the development of polygenic prediction frameworks, multi-ancestry association studies, and the integration of multi-omics data.

Key Projects and Methodologies

The lab has spearheaded several major research initiatives and software tools: - Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Gene Modifier Study (CGMS): The Strug Lab hosts and directs the statistical analyses for this nationwide study (as of 2026-07-19), identifying genetic modifiers that influence comorbidities like cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) and lung disease severity. - ePRS (external Polygenic Risk Score): Developed a transfer learning framework that utilizes large-scale biobank GWAS summary statistics to construct robust and specific polygenic scores in small clinical cohorts. - Epilepsy Genetics: In collaboration with the BIOJUME Consortium and other international groups, the lab works on differentiating epilepsy subtypes and predicting comorbidities like impulsivity using genomic data.

Citations

  • Lin, Y., Beier, C. P., Sobiskova, Z., Hamandi, K., Stödberg, T., Ng, C. C., Andrade, D. M., Syvertsen, M. R., Gardella, E., Orsini, A., Fong, C. Y., Zarubova, J., Kajsová, M., Lim, K. S., Selmer, K. K., Cerulli Irelli, E., Rubboli, G., Striano, P., BIOJUME Consortium, Pal, D. K., & Strug, L. J. (2026). Transfer learning enhances clinical utility of polygenic scores with small, phenotypically refined cohorts. Genome Research, 36(7), 1403-1416. Source paper: Genome Res.-2026-Lin-1403-16.pdf