GENEVA is one of a handful of collaborative GWA programs that involve many different diseases and traits, rather than focusing on a single disease or related traits such as the Myocardial Infarction Genetics (MIGen), Diabetes Genetics Replication and Meta-analysis (DIAGRAM), or Tobacco and Genetics (TAG) consortia. Others we are aware of include GAIN and WTCCC; models upon which GENEVA has built and expanded to include larger numbers of secondary phenotypes and greater harmonization of these phenotypes across studies. The well-developed infrastructure of the GENEVA consortium, as well as its collection of studies with extensive environmental exposure data, enhances the benefit of collaborative work to further maximize knowledge obtainable through GWAS. Indeed, the goal of focusing on the combined role of genetics and environment will aid in development and application of new analytic methods to consider G × E interaction at a genome-wide level. GENEVA’s initial efforts will focus on SNP analysis, yet it is actively pursuing the role of other forms of genetic variation, including CNVs. Moreover, sharing GENEVA’s growing repository of data with the broader scientific community should accelerate
