title: SimHap GUI: an intuitive graphical user interface for genetic association analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Researchers wishing to conduct genetic association analysis involving single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or haplotypes are often confronted with the lack of user-friendly graphical analysis tools, requiring sophisticated statistical and informatics expertise to perform relatively straightforward tasks. Tools, such as the SimHap package for the R statistics language, provide the necessary statistical operations to conduct sophisticated genetic analysis, but lacks a graphical user interface that allows anyone but a professional statistician to effectively utilise the tool.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have developed SimHap GUI, a cross-platform integrated graphical analysis tool for conducting epidemiological, single SNP and haplotype-based association analysis. SimHap GUI features a novel workflow interface that guides the user through each logical step of the analysis process, making it accessible to both novice and advanced users. This tool provides a seamless interface to the SimHap R package, while providing enhanced functionality such as sophisticated data checking, automated data conversion, and real-time estimations of haplotype simulation progress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SimHap GUI provides a novel, easy-to-use, cross-platform solution for conducting a range of genetic and non-genetic association analyses. This provides a free alternative to commercial statistics packages that is specifically designed for genetic association analysis.
authors.affiliation: Western Australian Institute for Medical Research and UWA Centre for Medical Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. kcarter@ichr.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Kim W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McCaskie
authors.forename: Lyle J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003196:Computer Graphics; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000379:methods*; D006239:Haplotypes; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011381:Programming Languages; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface