We also modeled the cumulative genetic risk of T2D using these markers. We summed the number of risk alleles for each individual and estimated the odds ratio per allele for this aggregate unweighted allele count variable as an approximate risk score appropriate for unlinked variants with independent effects of approximately the same magnitude for each allele. We also examined a second model where each allele was weighted and multiplied by the log of the published odds ratio prior to summing all alleles. The results of the more parsimonious unweighted risk score is presented as the two risk scores were highly correlated in each ethnic group (Pearson r≥0.92) and similar associations with T2D risk were observed for each score. For individuals missing genotypes for a given SNP, we assigned the average number of risk alleles within each ethnic group (2× risk allele frequency) to replace the missing value for that SNP. We used these ethnic-specific per allele summary odds ratios and the total number of risk alleles among control subjects to estimate the distribution of relative risks conveyed by all risk
