William Rayner

Senior Postdoctoral researcher

Will_standardResearch summary

I am involved in Mark McCarthy's research group focussed on type 2 diabetes and related traits and Ele Zeggini's research group focusing on Osteoarthritis. I am interested in the storage, processing, quality control and delivery to users of the very large data sets now being generated. 
With file sizes now in the multi gigabyte range and growing rapidly I have been developing systems to store and process the data using databases, Perl programs, scripting and publicly available tools e.g plink. I have developed an extensive range of tools to process, reformat and validate data files from a wide variety of sources including data in all the major current file formats.  I also provide support, software, data and experience of data handling and QC to affiliated groups, national and international collaborators as well as the main research groups.
To date work has been focussed on dealing with data from the genome wide genotyping scans and imputed data sets derived from these scans but the focus is changing to include the data now being generated both in-house and publicly from the new high throughput sequencing efforts.
My work also involves efforts to develop data analysis pipelines and to integrate and display data from these with publicly available data.

Click here to access strand files for various genotyping arrays.

Publication List

Family-based analysis of tumor necrosis factor and lymphotoxin-alpha tag polymorphisms with type 1 diabetes in the population of South Croatia. Boraska V, Zeggini E, Groves CJ, Rayner NW, Skrabic V, Diakite M, Rockett KA, Kwiatkowski D, McCarthy MI, Zemunik T. Hum Immunol. 2009 Mar;70(3):195-9. Epub 2009 Jan 22. PMID: 19167443

Adiposity-related heterogeneity in patterns of type 2 diabetes susceptibility observed in genome-wide association data. Timpson NJ, Lindgren CM, Weedon MN, Randall J, Ouwehand WH, Strachan DP, Rayner NW, Walker M, Hitman GA, Doney AS, Palmer CN, Morris AD, Hattersley AT, Zeggini E, Frayling TM, McCarthy MI. Diabetes. 2009 Feb;58(2):505-10. Epub 2008 Dec 3. PMID: 19056611

Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. Loos RJ, Lindgren CM, Li S, Wheeler E, Zhao JH, Prokopenko I, Inouye M, Freathy RM, Attwood AP, Beckmann JS, Berndt SI; Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, Jacobs KB, Chanock SJ, Hayes RB, Bergmann S, Bennett AJ, Bingham SA, Bochud M, Brown M, Cauchi S, Connell JM, Cooper C, Smith GD, Day I, Dina C, De S, Dermitzakis ET, Doney AS, Elliott KS, Elliott P, Evans DM, Sadaf Farooqi I, Froguel P, Ghori J, Groves CJ, Gwilliam R, Hadley D, Hall AS, Hattersley AT, Hebebrand J, Heid IM; KORA, Lamina C, Gieger C, Illig T, Meitinger T, Wichmann HE, Herrera B, Hinney A, Hunt SE, Jarvelin MR, Johnson T, Jolley JD, Karpe F, Keniry A, Khaw KT, Luben RN, Mangino M, Marchini J, McArdle WL, McGinnis R, Meyre D, Munroe PB, Morris AD, Ness AR, Neville MJ, Nica AC, Ong KK, O'Rahilly S, Owen KR, Palmer CN, Papadakis K, Potter S, Pouta A, Qi L; Nurses' Health Study, Randall JC, Rayner NW, Ring SM, Sandhu MS, Scherag A, Sims MA, Song K, Soranzo N, Speliotes EK; Diabetes Genetics Initiative, Syddall HE, Teichmann SA, Timpson NJ, Tobias JH, Uda M; SardiNIA Study, Vogel CI, Wallace C, Waterworth DM, Weedon MN; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Willer CJ; FUSION, Wraight, Yuan X, Zeggini E, Hirschhorn JN, Strachan DP, Ouwehand WH, Caulfield MJ, Samani NJ, Frayling TM, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Mooser V, Deloukas P, McCarthy MI, Wareham NJ, Barroso I, Jacobs KB, Chanock SJ, Hayes RB, Lamina C, Gieger C, Illig T, Meitinger T, Wichmann HE, Kraft P, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Hu FB, Lyon HN, Voight BF, Ridderstrale M, Groop L, Scheet P, Sanna S, Abecasis GR, Albai G, Nagaraja R, Schlessinger D, Jackson AU, Tuomilehto J, Collins FS, Boehnke M, Mohlke KL. Nat Genet. 2008 Jun;40(6):768-75. Epub 2008 May 4. PMID: 18454148

Genetic determinants of ulcerative colitis include the ECM1 locus and five loci implicated in Crohn's disease. Fisher SA, Tremelling M, Anderson CA, Gwilliam R, Bumpstead S, Prescott NJ, Nimmo ER, Massey D, Berzuini C, Johnson C, Barrett JC, Cummings FR, Drummond H, Lees CW, Onnie CM, Hanson CE, Blaszczyk K, Inouye M, Ewels P, Ravindrarajah R, Keniry A, Hunt S, Carter M, Watkins N, Ouwehand W, Lewis CM, Cardon L; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Lobo A, Forbes A, Sanderson J, Jewell DP, Mansfield JC, Deloukas P, Mathew CG, Parkes M, Satsangi J. Nat Genet. 2008 Jun;40(6):710-2. Epub 2008 Apr 27. PMID: 18438406

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association data and large-scale replication identifies additional susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes. Zeggini E, Scott LJ, Saxena R, Voight BF, Marchini JL, Hu T, de Bakker PI, Abecasis GR, Almgren P, Andersen G, Ardlie K, Boström KB, Bergman RN, Bonnycastle LL, Borch-Johnsen K, Burtt NP, Chen H, Chines PS, Daly MJ, Deodhar P, Ding CJ, Doney AS, Duren WL, Elliott KS, Erdos MR, Frayling TM, Freathy RM, Gianniny L, Grallert H, Grarup N, Groves CJ, Guiducci C, Hansen T, Herder C, Hitman GA, Hughes TE, Isomaa B, Jackson AU, Jørgensen T, Kong A, Kubalanza K, Kuruvilla FG, Kuusisto J, Langenberg C, Lango H, Lauritzen T, Li Y, Lindgren CM, Lyssenko V, Marvelle AF, Meisinger C, Midthjell K, Mohlke KL, Morken MA, Morris AD, Narisu N, Nilsson P, Owen KR, Palmer CN, Payne F, Perry JR, Pettersen E, Platou C, Prokopenko I, Qi L, Qin L, Rayner NW, Rees M, Roix JJ, Sandbaek A, Shields B, Sjögren M, Steinthorsdottir V, Stringham HM, Swift AJ, Thorleifsson G, Thorsteinsdottir U, Timpson NJ, Tuomi T, Tuomilehto J, Walker M, Watanabe RM, Weedon MN, Willer CJ; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Illig T, Hveem K, Hu FB, Laakso M, Stefansson K, Pedersen O, Wareham NJ, Barroso I, Hattersley AT, Collins FS, Groop L, McCarthy MI, Boehnke M, Altshuler D. Nat Genet. 2008 May;40(5):638-45. Epub 2008 Mar 30. PMID: 18372903

Association scan of 14,500 nonsynonymous SNPs in four diseases identifies autoimmunity variants. Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium; Australo-Anglo-American Spondylitis Consortium (TASC), Burton PR, Clayton DG, Cardon LR, Craddock N, Deloukas P, Duncanson A, Kwiatkowski DP, McCarthy MI, Ouwehand WH, Samani NJ, Todd JA, Donnelly P, Barrett JC, Davison D, Easton D, Evans DM, Leung HT, Marchini JL, Morris AP, Spencer CC, Tobin MD, Attwood AP, Boorman JP, Cant B, Everson U, Hussey JM, Jolley JD, Knight AS, Koch K, Meech E, Nutland S, Prowse CV, Stevens HE, Taylor NC, Walters GR, Walker NM, Watkins NA, Winzer T, Jones RW, McArdle WL, Ring SM, Strachan DP, Pembrey M, Breen G, St Clair D, Caesar S, Gordon-Smith K, Jones L, Fraser C, Green EK, Grozeva D, Hamshere ML, Holmans PA, Jones IR, Kirov G, Moskivina V, Nikolov I, O'Donovan MC, Owen MJ, Collier DA, Elkin A, Farmer A, Williamson R, McGuffin P, Young AH, Ferrier IN, Ball SG, Balmforth AJ, Barrett JH, Bishop TD, Iles MM, Maqbool A, Yuldasheva N, Hall AS, Braund PS, Dixon RJ, Mangino M, Stevens S, Thompson JR, Bredin F, Tremelling M, Parkes M, Drummond H, Lees CW, Nimmo ER, Satsangi J, Fisher SA, Forbes A, Lewis CM, Onnie CM, Prescott NJ, Sanderson J, Matthew CG, Barbour J, Mohiuddin MK, Todhunter CE, Mansfield JC, Ahmad T, Cummings FR, Jewell DP, Webster J, Brown MJ, Lathrop MG, Connell J, Dominiczak A, Marcano CA, Burke B, Dobson R, Gungadoo J, Lee KL, Munroe PB, Newhouse SJ, Onipinla A, Wallace C, Xue M, Caulfield M, Farrall M, Barton A; Biologics in RA Genetics and Genomics Study Syndicate (BRAGGS) Steering Committee, Bruce IN, Donovan H, Eyre S, Gilbert PD, Hilder SL, Hinks AM, John SL, Potter C, Silman AJ, Symmons DP, Thomson W, Worthington J, Dunger DB, Widmer B, Frayling TM, Freathy RM, Lango H, Perry JR, Shields BM, Weedon MN, Hattersley AT, Hitman GA, Walker M, Elliott KS, Groves CJ, Lindgren CM, Rayner NW, Timpson NJ, Zeggini E, Newport M, Sirugo G, Lyons E, Vannberg F, Hill AV, Bradbury LA, Farrar C, Pointon JJ, Wordsworth P, Brown MA, Franklyn JA, Heward JM, Simmonds MJ, Gough SC, Seal S; Breast Cancer Susceptibility Collaboration (UK), Stratton MR, Rahman N, Ban M, Goris A, Sawcer SJ, Compston A, Conway D, Jallow M, Newport M, Sirugo G, Rockett KA, Bumpstead SJ, Chaney A, Downes K, Ghori MJ, Gwilliam R, Hunt SE, Inouye M, Keniry A, King E, McGinnis R, Potter S, Ravindrarajah R, Whittaker P, Widden C, Withers D, Cardin NJ, Davison D, Ferreira T, Pereira-Gale J, Hallgrimsdo'ttir IB, Howie BN, Su Z, Teo YY, Vukcevic D, Bentley D, Brown MA, Compston A, Farrall M, Hall AS, Hattersley AT, Hill AV, Parkes M, Pembrey M, Stratton MR, Mitchell SL, Newby PR, Brand OJ, Carr-Smith J, Pearce SH, McGinnis R, Keniry A, Deloukas P, Reveille JD, Zhou X, Sims AM, Dowling A, Taylor J, Doan T, Davis JC, Savage L, Ward MM, Learch TL, Weisman MH, Brown M. Nat Genet. 2007 Nov;39(11):1329-37. Epub 2007 Oct 21. PMID: 17952073

A common variant of HMGA2 is associated with adult and childhood height in the general population. Weedon MN, Lettre G, Freathy RM, Lindgren CM, Voight BF, Perry JR, Elliott KS, Hackett R, Guiducci C, Shields B, Zeggini E, Lango H, Lyssenko V, Timpson NJ, Burtt NP, Rayner NW, Saxena R, Ardlie K, Tobias JH, Ness AR, Ring SM, Palmer CN, Morris AD, Peltonen L, Salomaa V; Diabetes Genetics Initiative; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Davey Smith G, Groop LC, Hattersley AT, McCarthy MI, Hirschhorn JN, Frayling TM. Nat Genet. 2007 Oct;39(10):1245-50. Epub 2007 Sep 2. PMID: 17767157

Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls. Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. Nature. 2007;447;661-78. PMID: 17554300

Replication of genome-wide association signals in UK samples reveals risk loci for type 2 diabetes. Zeggini E, Weedon MN, Lindgren CM, Frayling TM, Elliott KS, Lango H, Timpson NJ, Perry JR, Rayner NW, Freathy RM, Barrett JC, Shields B, Morris AP, Ellard S, Groves CJ, Harries LW, Marchini JL, Owen KR, Knight B, Cardon LR, Walker M, Hitman GA, Morris AD, Doney AS; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC), McCarthy MI, Hattersley AT. Science. 2007 Jun 1;316(5829):1336-41. Epub 2007 Apr 26. Erratum in: Science. 2007 Aug 24;317(5841):1035-6. PMID: 17463249

A common variant in the FTO gene is associated with body mass index and predisposes to childhood and adult obesity. Frayling TM, Timpson NJ, Weedon MN, Zeggini E, Freathy RM, Lindgren CM, Perry JR, Elliott KS, Lango H, Rayner NW, Shields B, Harries LW, Barrett JC, Ellard S, Groves CJ, Knight B, Patch AM, Ness AR, Ebrahim S, Lawlor DA, Ring SM, Ben-Shlomo Y, Jarvelin MR, Sovio U, Bennett AJ, Melzer D, Ferrucci L, Loos RJ, Barroso I, Wareham NJ, Karpe F, Owen KR, Cardon LR, Walker M, Hitman GA, Palmer CN, Doney AS, Morris AD, Smith GD, Hattersley AT, McCarthy MI. Science. 2007 May 11;316(5826):889-94. Epub 2007 Apr 12. PMID: 17434869

Research Areas

Genome wide Association
Data Handling and processing
Data Quality Control

Keywords:

Databases, Oracle, Perl, Type 2 Diabetes, Data Quality Control, Data Formatting, genome wide association, data storage

Contact Details

Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics
University of Oxford
Roosevelt Drive
Oxford; OX3 7BN; UK

email: wrayner@well.ox.ac.uk

tel: +44 (0)1865 287837

fax: +44 (0)1865 287664