About the Authors

J. Brent Richards

brent.richards@mcgill.ca

Affiliations Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Dawn Waterworth

Affiliation Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Stephen O'Rahilly

Affiliation University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Marie-France Hivert

Affiliations General Medicine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Ruth J. F. Loos

Affiliation Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

John R. B. Perry

Affiliations Genetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom, Diabetes Genetics, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom

Toshiko Tanaka

Affiliations Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America, Medstar Research Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Nicholas John Timpson

Affiliation Medical Research Council Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Oakfield House, Bristol, United Kingdom

Robert K. Semple

Affiliation University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Nicole Soranzo

Affiliations Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom

Kijoung Song

Affiliation Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Nuno Rocha

Affiliation University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Elin Grundberg

Affiliations Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Josée Dupuis

Affiliation Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Jose C. Florez

Affiliations Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Center for Human, Genetic Research and Diabetes Center (Diabetes Unit), Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America

Claudia Langenberg

Affiliation Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Inga Prokopenko

Affiliation Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Richa Saxena

Affiliations Center for Human, Genetic Research and Diabetes Center (Diabetes Unit), Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America

Robert Sladek

Affiliation Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Yurii Aulchenko

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

David Evans

Affiliation Medical Research Council Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Oakfield House, Bristol, United Kingdom

Gerard Waeber

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Jeanette Erdmann

Affiliation Medizinische Klinik II, Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Mary-Susan Burnett

Affiliation Cardiovascular Research Institute, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

Naveed Sattar

Affiliation British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Joseph Devaney

Affiliation Cardiovascular Research Institute, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

Christina Willenborg

Affiliations Medizinische Klinik II, Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany, Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Statistik, Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Aroon Hingorani

Affiliation Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, University College, London, United Kingdom

Jaquelin C. M. Witteman

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Peter Vollenweider

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Beate Glaser

Affiliation Medical Research Council Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Oakfield House, Bristol, United Kingdom

Christian Hengstenberg

Affiliation Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Luigi Ferrucci

Affiliation Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

David Melzer

Affiliation Genetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom

Klaus Stark

Affiliation Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

John Deanfield

Affiliation Cardiothoracic Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Trust, London, United Kingdom

Janina Winogradow

Affiliation Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Martina Grassl

Affiliation Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Alistair S. Hall

Affiliation Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics and Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

Josephine M. Egan

Affiliation Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

John R. Thompson

Affiliation Departments of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Sally L. Ricketts

Affiliation Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Strangeways Research Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Inke R. König

Affiliation Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Statistik, Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Wibke Reinhard

Affiliation Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Scott Grundy

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America

H-Erich Wichmann

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Medical Information Science, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilans-Universität, Munich, Germany

Phil Barter

Affiliation Heart Research Institute, Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Robert Mahley

Affiliation Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, San Francisco, California, United States of America

Y. Antero Kesaniemi

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

Daniel J. Rader

Affiliation Cardiovascular Institute and Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Muredach P. Reilly

Affiliation Cardiovascular Institute and Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Stephen E. Epstein

Affiliation Cardiovascular Research Institute, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

Alexandre F. R. Stewart

Affiliation Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Cornelia M. Van Duijn

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Heribert Schunkert

Affiliation Medizinische Klinik II, Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Keith Burling

Affiliation University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Panos Deloukas

Affiliation Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom

Tomi Pastinen

Affiliations Departments of Medicine, Human Genetics, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Nilesh J. Samani

Affiliation Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom

Ruth McPherson

Affiliation Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

George Davey Smith

Affiliation Medical Research Council Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Oakfield House, Bristol, United Kingdom

Timothy M. Frayling

Affiliations Genetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom, Diabetes Genetics, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom

Nicholas J. Wareham

Affiliation Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

James B. Meigs

Affiliations General Medicine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Vincent Mooser

Contributed equally to this work with: Vincent Mooser, Tim D. Spector

Affiliation Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Tim D. Spector

Contributed equally to this work with: Vincent Mooser, Tim D. Spector

Affiliation Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

GIANT Consortium

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Ran meta-analysis: J. B. Richards, K. Song. Ran statistical analysis in studies: J. B. Richards, D. Waterworth, M.-F. Hivert, R. J. F. Loos, J. R. B. Perry, T. Tanaka, N. J. Timpson, K. Song, C. Langenberg, I. Prokopenko, R. Saxena, Y. Aluchenko, D. Evans, J. Erdmann, C. Willenborg, J. C. M. Witteman, B. Glaser, I. R. König, C. M. Van Duijn, T. M. Frayling. Designed studies: J. B. Richards, D. Waterworth, J. Dupuis, J. C. Florez, G. Waeber, J. Erdmann, M.-S. Burnett, J. Devaney, P. Vollenweider, C. Hengstenberg, L. Ferruci, D. Melzer, K. Stark, J. Deanfield, A. S. Hall, J. M. Egan, S. Grundy, P. Barter, Y. A. Kesaniemi, D. J. Rader, M. P. Reilly, S. E. Epstein, A. F. R. Stewart, N. J. Samani, R. McPherson, N. J. Wareham, J. B. Weigs, V. Mooser, T. D. Spector. Established the consortium: J. B. Richards, D. Waterworth, C. Hengstenberg, V. Mooser, T. D. Spector. Interpreted results and critically read the manuscript: J. B. Richards, D. Waterworth, S. O'Rahilly, M.-F. Hivert, R. J. F. Loos, J. R. B. Perry, T. Tanaka, N. J. Timpson, R. K. Semple, N. Soranzo, K. Song, N. Rocha, E. Grundberg, J. Dupuis, J. C. Florez, C. Langenberg, I. Prokopenko, R. Saxena, R. Sladek, Y. Aluchenko, D. Evans, G. Waeber, J. Erdmann, M.-S. Burnett, N. Sattar, J. Devaney, C. Willenborg, A. Hingorani, J. C. M. Witteman, P. Vollenweider, B. Glaser, C. Hengstenberg, L. Ferruci, D. Melzer, K. Stark, J. Deanfield, J. Winogradow, M. Grassl, A. S. Hall, J. M. Egan, J. R. Thompson, S. L. Ricketts, I. R. König, W. Reinhard, S. Grundy, H. E. Wichmann, P. Barter, R. Mahley, Y. A. Kesaniemi, D. J. Rader, M. P. Reilly, S. E. Epstein, A. F. R. Stewart, C. M. Van Duijn, H. Schunkert, K. Burling, P. Deloukas, T. Pastinen, N. J. Samani, R. McPherson, G. Davey Smith, T. M. Frayling, N. J. Wareham, J. B. Weigs, V. Mooser, T. D. Spector. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: J. B. Richards. Coordinated/collected phenotypic information: D. W, G. Waeber, M.-S. Burnett, N. Sattar, J. Devaney, A. Hingorani, P. Vollenweider, C. Hengstenberg, K. Stark, J. Winogradow, M. Grassl, A. S. Hall, S. L. Ricketts, W. Reinhard, S. Grundy, H. E. Wichmann, P. Barter, R. Mahley, Y. A. Kesaniemi, D. J. Rader, M. P. Reilly, S. E. Epstein, N. J. Samani, R. McPherson, G. Davey Smith, J. B. Weigs, V. Mooser, T. D. Spector. Performed expression studies: S. O'Rahilly, R. K. Semple, N. Rocha, E. Grundberg, T. Pastinen. Coordinated GWA genotyping of studies: N. Soranzo, J. Erdmann, C. Hengstenberg, K. Stark, M. P. Reilly, H. Schunkert, P. Deloukas, T. D. Spector. Obtained funding: J. Dupuis, J. C. Florez, J. Erdmann, N. Sattar, C. Hengstenberg, A. S. Hall, J. M. Egan, J. R. Thompson, D. J. Rader, M. P. Reilly, S. E. Epstein, A. F. R. Stewart, N. J. Samani, R. McPherson, G. Davey Smith, N. J. Wareham, J. B. Weigs, T. D. Spector. Performed laboratory analyses: N. Sattar, K. Stark, J. M. Egan, K. Burling, R. McPherson. Provided data for the BMI trait: GIANT Consortium.