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Prof. Dr. Michael Nothnagel

University of Cologne
Cologne Center for Genomics (CCG)
Department of Statistical Genetics and Bioinformatics
Weyertal 115b, 50931 Köln
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 478 - 96847
Email: michael.nothnagel(at)uni-koeln.de
URL: statgen.uni-koeln.de/
ORCID: 0000-0001-8305-7114

CDS Research Areas

Past Events

CCG Seminar with Joscha Gretzinger | Dec. 09, 2025

Ancient DNA Reveals the Demographic History of Early Medieval Europe

CCG Seminar with Suzanne Leal | Nov. 25, 2025

Increasing protein prediction accuracy using cis and trans variants with application to complex traits

CCG Seminar with Tobias Marschall | Nov. 12, 2025

Topic: Pangenome based analysis of structural variation

CCG Seminar with Leonardo Iasi | Oct. 28, 2025

Topic: Ancient DNA: new model for dating the mixing of Neanderthals and modern humans

34th International Genetic Epidemiology Society (IGES) Annual Meeting | Aug. 31 – Sep. 02, 2025

The premier gathering for experts in genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics

CCG Seminar with Peter Krawitz | June 17, 2025

GestaltMatcher: Medical Image Analysis With AI in Rare Diseases

Prof. Dr. Michael Nothnagel’s group focuses on statistical genetics and bioinformatics, comprising genetic epidemiology, population genetics, forensic genetics and ancient DNA analysis. This incudes theoretical and methodological work as well as data analysis in collaborative projects, with a focus on human data. His group is contributing to the identification of genetic factors implicated in human diseases, theoretical insights into disease etiology, the elucidation of continental and worldwide phylogeographic patterns of human genetic diversity, forensic genetic methodology, and others. Prof. Nothnagel and his colleagues are involved in several national and international projects on statistical genetics. 

Selected publications

  1. Brünger T, Ivaniuk A, Pérez-Palma E, Montanucci L, Cohen S, Smith L, Parthasarathy S, Helbig I, Nothnagel M, May P, Lal D (2025). Conserved missense variant pathogenicity and correlated phenotypes across paralogous genes. Genome Biol, 26(1):197. doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03663-x
  2. Schmidt A, Casadei N, Brand F, Demidov G, Vojgani E, ..., Nothnagel M, Riess O, Schulte EC, Ludwig KU (2024). Systematic assessment of COVID-19 host genetics using whole genome sequencing data. PLOS Pathogens, 20(12):e1012786. doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012786
  3. Riesmeijer SA, Kamali Z, Ng M, Drichel D, Piersma B, Becker K, Layton TB, Nanchahal J, Nothnagel M, Vaez A, Hennies HC, Werker PMN, Furniss D, Nolte IM (2024). A genome-wide association meta-analysis implicates Hedgehog and Notch signalling in Dupuytren's disease. Nat Comm, 15(1):199. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44451-0
  4. Khellaf L, Ralf A, Nguyen KT, Kayser M, Nothnagel M (2023). SMapper: SMapper: Visualising spatial prevalence data of all types, including sparse and incomplete datasets. Bioinformatics Advances, 3(1):vbad176. doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbad176
  5. Brünger T, Pérez-Palma E, Montanucci L, Nothnagel M, Møller RS, Schorge S, Zuberi S, Symonds J, Lemke JR, Brunklaus A, Traynelis SF, May P, Lal D (2023). Conserved patterns across ion channels correlate with variant pathogenicity and clinical phenotypes. Brain, 146(3): 923–934. doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac305
  6. International League Against Epilepsy Consortium on Complex Epilepsies (2023). GWAS meta-analysis of over 29,000 people with epilepsy identifies 26 risk loci and subtype-specific genetic architecture. Nat Genet, 55:1471–1482. doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01485-w
  7. Adesoji OM, Schulz H, May P, Krause R, Lerche H, Nothnagel M, ILAE Consortium on Complex Epilepsies (2022). Benchmarking of univariate pleiotropy detection methods applied to epilepsy. Hum Mutat, 43(9):1314-1332. doi.org/10.1002/humu.24417
  8. Katsara MA, Branicki W, Walsh S, Kayser M, Nothnagel M, on behalf of the VISAGE Consortium (2021). Evaluation of supervised machine-learning methods for predicting appearance traits from DNA. Forensic Sci Int Genet, 53:102507. doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2021.102507
  9. Villaescusa P, Seidel M, Nothnagel M, Pinotti T, González-Andrade F, Alvarez-Gila O, de Pancorbo MM, Roewer L (2021). A Y-chromosomal survey of Ecuador’s multi-ethnic population reveals new insights into the tri-partite population structure and supports an early Holocene age of the rare Native American founder lineage C3-MPB373. Forensic Sci Int Genet, 51:102427. doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102427
  10. Kanoungi G, Nothnagel M, Becker B, Drichel D (2020). The exhaustive genomic scan approach, with an application to rare-variant association analysis. Eur J Hum Genet, 28(9):1283-1291. doi.org/10.1038/s41431-020-0639-3