Chair / Co-Chairs: Martin Dichgans and Stéphanie Debette
The MEGASTROKE working group has been working on bringing together within the ISGC and beyond all available genome-wide association studies on stroke to conduct a multiancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis, the largest of its kind to date. This collaborative effort has enabled to triple the number of stroke risk loci and was complemented by an extensive exploration of shared genetic overlap with other vascular and neurological conditions and in silico functional explorations leading to a prioritization scheme for further functional follow-up of stroke risk loci. The summary statistics of this project have been made publicly available shortly after the publication of the MEGASTROKE manuscript (Nat Genet 2018;50:524-537), under the www.megastroke.org portal. This has enabled a numerous follow-up analyses by the ISGC and the scientific community at large, aimed at exploring the molecular underpinnings of stroke and related conditions, and contributed to risk prediction modelling, exploration of causal relationships with exposures through mendelian randomization studies, and in silico exploration of drug effects. The MEGASTROKE WG can also be contacted to facilitate new projects requiring information that was not used in the initial publication by helping investigators connect with MEGASTROKE collaborators.