Joel Gelernter, MD
Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Genetics and of NeuroscienceDownloadHi-Res Photo
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Director, Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry)
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Psychiatry
VA CT Healthcare Center S116A2, 950 Campbell Avenue
West Haven, CT 06516
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Director, Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry)
Contact Info
Psychiatry
VA CT Healthcare Center S116A2, 950 Campbell Avenue
West Haven, CT 06516
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Director, Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry)
Contact Info
Psychiatry
VA CT Healthcare Center S116A2, 950 Campbell Avenue
West Haven, CT 06516
United States
About
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Titles
Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Genetics and of Neuroscience
Director, Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry)
Biography
Joel Gelernter, MD, is Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Genetics and of Neuroscience; and Director, Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry), at the Yale University School of Medicine.
The research focus of his laboratory is genetics of psychiatric illness – phenotypes including cocaine, opioid, nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol use and use disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and panic and other anxiety disorders. He also studies a range of related phenotypes, including pharmacogenomics; other complex traits; and basic issues in population and complex trait genetics. The overall approach involves study of genetic polymorphism and sequence variation, on a molecular level and from the perspective of population genetics. Dr Gelernter’s laboratory published genomewide association studies (GWAS) and other downstream analyses for cannabis use and use disorder, opioid use disorder, PTSD and related traits, alcohol use disorder and problematic alcohol use, and other psychiatric and medical traits - such as level of physical activity, and how exercise relates to mental health. These studies have resulted in the identification of numerous novel risk loci and clarification of underlying biology.
Last Updated on September 22, 2025.
Appointments
Psychiatry
ProfessorPrimaryGenetics
ProfessorSecondaryNeuroscience
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcohol
- Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics
- Division of Human Genetics
- Division of Neurocognition, Neurocomputation & Neurogenetics
- Gelernter Lab
- Genetics
- Global Health Studies
- Human Genome Sciences
- Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development
- Neuroscience
- Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP)
- Office of Global Health Education
- Psychiatry
- Psychotherapy Development Center
- Stress & Addiction Clinical Research Program
- VA Alcohol Research Center
- VA-Yale Clinical Neurosciences PTSD Research Program
- Wu Tsai Institute
- Yale Center for Genomic Health
- Yale Center for the Science of Cannabis and Cannabinoids
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Global Mental Health Program
- Yale Ventures
- Yale-BI Biomedical Data Science Fellowship
Education & Training
- Fellowship
- Psychiatric genetics, NIMH (1988)
- MD
- SUNY Downstate Medical Center (1983)
- BS
- Yale University, Music & Biology (1979)
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Affective Disorders, Psychotic; Alcoholism; Anxiety Disorders; China; Genetics; Genetics, Population; Global Health; Israel; Polymorphism, Genetic; Psychiatry; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Substance-Related Disorders; Thailand
ORCID
0000-0002-4067-1859- View Lab Website
Gelernter Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Joel Gelernter's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Joel Gelernter's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Joel Gelernter is interested in exploring.
Renato Polimanti, PhD, MSc
Daniel F. Levey, PhD
Hang Zhou, PhD
John Krystal, MD
Xingguang Luo, MD
Hongyu Zhao, PhD
658Publications
47,342Citations
Alcoholism
Substance-Related Disorders
Polymorphism, Genetic
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Anxiety Disorders
Genetics, Population
Publications
Featured Publications
A contextual genomic perspective on physical activity and its relationship to health, well being and illness
Galimberti M, Levey D, Deak J, Adhikari K, Overstreet C, Gupta P, Nitin R, Zhou H, Lake N, Harrington K, Djousse L, Davis L, Gaziano J, Stein M, Gelernter J. A contextual genomic perspective on physical activity and its relationship to health, well being and illness. Nature Genetics 2025, 57: 1860-1871. PMID: 40691405, PMCID: PMC12339386, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02260-9.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsLeisure-time PAPhysical activityLeisure-timeHealth benefitsIndividuals of European ancestryMendelian randomization analysisMillion Veteran ProgramUK Biobank dataLatin American ancestryHealth outcomesVeteran ProgramRandomization analysisBiobank dataRespiratory system diseasesLead variantsCOVID-19 hospitalizationCross-ancestryEuropean ancestryHealthMeta-analysisGenetic analysisAmerican ancestryAfrican ancestryCross-ancestry meta-analysisMetabolic traitsMulti-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder yields insight into disease biology and public health implications
Levey D, Galimberti M, Deak J, Wendt F, Bhattacharya A, Koller D, Harrington K, Quaden R, Johnson E, Gupta P, Biradar M, Lam M, Cooke M, Rajagopal V, Empke S, Zhou H, Nunez Y, Kranzler H, Edenberg H, Agrawal A, Smoller J, Lencz T, Hougaard D, Børglum A, Demontis D, Gaziano J, Gandal M, Polimanti R, Stein M, Gelernter J. Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder yields insight into disease biology and public health implications. Nature Genetics 2023, 55: 2094-2103. PMID: 37985822, PMCID: PMC10703690, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-023-01563-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsSingle nucleotide polymorphism-based heritabilityMulti-ancestry genome-wide association studyAssociation studiesMillion Veteran ProgramGenome-wide association studiesWide significant lociWide association studySignificant lociReference panelSmall populationDisease biologyAncestryAmerican ancestryHeritabilityVeteran ProgramNumerous medical comorbiditiesLung cancer riskRelationship analysisLociBiologyPublic health implicationsEast AsiansPublic health consequencesMedical comorbiditiesCigarette smokingMulti-ancestry study of the genetics of problematic alcohol use in over 1 million individuals
Zhou H, Kember R, Deak J, Xu H, Toikumo S, Yuan K, Lind P, Farajzadeh L, Wang L, Hatoum A, Johnson J, Lee H, Mallard T, Xu J, Johnston K, Johnson E, Nielsen T, Galimberti M, Dao C, Levey D, Overstreet C, Byrne E, Gillespie N, Gordon S, Hickie I, Whitfield J, Xu K, Zhao H, Huckins L, Davis L, Sanchez-Roige S, Madden P, Heath A, Medland S, Martin N, Ge T, Smoller J, Hougaard D, Børglum A, Demontis D, Krystal J, Gaziano J, Edenberg H, Agrawal A, Justice A, Stein M, Kranzler H, Gelernter J. Multi-ancestry study of the genetics of problematic alcohol use in over 1 million individuals. Nature Medicine 2023, 29: 3184-3192. PMID: 38062264, PMCID: PMC10719093, DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02653-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricGenetics of substance use disorders in the era of big data
Gelernter J, Polimanti R. Genetics of substance use disorders in the era of big data. Nature Reviews Genetics 2021, 22: 712-729. PMID: 34211176, PMCID: PMC9210391, DOI: 10.1038/s41576-021-00377-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricGenome-wide association study in individuals of European and African ancestry and multi-trait analysis of opioid use disorder identifies 19 independent genome-wide significant risk loci
Deak JD, Zhou H, Galimberti M, Levey DF, Wendt FR, Sanchez-Roige S, Hatoum AS, Johnson EC, Nunez YZ, Demontis D, Børglum AD, Rajagopal VM, Jennings MV, Kember RL, Justice AC, Edenberg HJ, Agrawal A, Polimanti R, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Genome-wide association study in individuals of European and African ancestry and multi-trait analysis of opioid use disorder identifies 19 independent genome-wide significant risk loci. Molecular Psychiatry 2022, 27: 3970-3979. PMID: 35879402, PMCID: PMC9718667, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01709-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsGenome-wide association studiesGenome-wide significant risk lociAssociation studiesVariant associationsLarge-scale genome-wide association studiesGenetic correlationsSignificant risk lociPsychiatric Genomics ConsortiumMulti-trait analysisPolygenic risk score analysisSingle-variant associationsGWS lociGenetic architectureIndividuals of EuropeanGWS associationsRisk lociGene regionGenomics ConsortiumMillion Veteran ProgramSusceptibility lociAfrican ancestryLociRisk score analysisGenetic informativenessSNPs oneBi-ancestral depression GWAS in the Million Veteran Program and meta-analysis in >1.2 million individuals highlight new therapeutic directions
Levey DF, Stein MB, Wendt FR, Pathak GA, Zhou H, Aslan M, Quaden R, Harrington KM, Nuñez YZ, Overstreet C, Radhakrishnan K, Sanacora G, McIntosh AM, Shi J, Shringarpure SS, Concato J, Polimanti R, Gelernter J. Bi-ancestral depression GWAS in the Million Veteran Program and meta-analysis in >1.2 million individuals highlight new therapeutic directions. Nature Neuroscience 2021, 24: 954-963. PMID: 34045744, PMCID: PMC8404304, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00860-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTranscriptome-wide association studyMillion Veteran ProgramTranscriptome-wide association study (TWAS) analysisGenomic risk lociComplex psychiatric traitsGenetic architectureRisk lociGene expressionAssociation studiesLikely pathogenicityPsychiatric traitsVeteran ProgramNew therapeutic directionEuropean ancestryNew insightsAncestryUK BiobankAfrican ancestrySubstantial replicationExpressionLarge independent cohortsGWASTherapeutic directionsGenesLociGenome-wide association analyses of post-traumatic stress disorder and its symptom subdomains in the Million Veteran Program
Stein MB, Levey DF, Cheng Z, Wendt FR, Harrington K, Pathak GA, Cho K, Quaden R, Radhakrishnan K, Girgenti MJ, Ho YA, Posner D, Aslan M, Duman RS, Zhao H, Polimanti R, Concato J, Gelernter J. Genome-wide association analyses of post-traumatic stress disorder and its symptom subdomains in the Million Veteran Program. Nature Genetics 2021, 53: 174-184. PMID: 33510476, PMCID: PMC7972521, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-020-00767-x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsGenome-wide association analysisAssociation analysisMillion Veteran ProgramGenomic structural equation modelingSignificant lociGenetic varianceGene expressionDrug repositioning candidatesBiological coherenceVeteran ProgramMultiple testing correctionSymptom phenotypeLociRepositioning candidatesAfrican ancestryHeritabilityPhenotypeAncestryExpressionPTSD symptom factorsRegionSubdomainsEnrichmentUnderstanding the comorbidity between posttraumatic stress severity and coronary artery disease using genome-wide information and electronic health records
Polimanti R, Wendt FR, Pathak GA, Tylee DS, Tcheandjieu C, Hilliard AT, Levey DF, Adhikari K, Gaziano JM, O’Donnell C, Assimes TL, Stein MB, Gelernter J. Understanding the comorbidity between posttraumatic stress severity and coronary artery disease using genome-wide information and electronic health records. Molecular Psychiatry 2022, 27: 3961-3969. PMID: 35986173, PMCID: PMC10986859, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01735-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsCoronary artery diseasePosttraumatic stress disorderElectronic health recordsMillion Veteran ProgramArtery diseaseTotal scoreCAD diagnosisPlatelet amyloid precursor proteinHealth recordsPosttraumatic stress severityAmyloid precursor proteinEarly CAD diagnosisUK BiobankBidirectional relationshipTwo-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysisMendelian randomization analysisCAD riskHigh morbidityPTSD symptom severityCARDIoGRAMplusC4D consortiumPleiotropic mechanismsSymptom severityLongitudinal changesDiscordant effectsStress disorderThe genetic relationship between cannabis use disorder, cannabis use and psychiatric disorders
Galimberti M, Overstreet C, Gupta P, Beck S, Dao C, Deak J, Zhou H, Johnson E, Agrawal A, Stein M, Levey D, Gelernter J. The genetic relationship between cannabis use disorder, cannabis use and psychiatric disorders. Nature Mental Health 2025, 3: 700-708. DOI: 10.1038/s44220-025-00440-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsGenomic structural equation modelingCannabis use disorderCannabis usePsychiatric disordersUse disorderStructural equation modelingIncreased rates of psychiatric disordersIncreasing prevalence of cannabis useRates of psychiatric disordersPrevalence of cannabis useThree-factor modelEquation modelingDepressive disorderPsychiatric traitsCannabisLocal genetic correlationDisordersGenetic correlationsMendelian randomization analysisTraitsRandomization analysisSchizophreniaADHDColocalization analysisIncreased riskEnvironmental, Psychiatric, and Genetic Predictors of Alcohol Use Disorder Criterion Count: Analyses of African and European Ancestries.
Na PJ, Deak JD, Levey DF, Kember RL, Kranzler HR, Pietrzak RH, Gelernter J. Environmental, Psychiatric, and Genetic Predictors of Alcohol Use Disorder Criterion Count: Analyses of African and European Ancestries. Am J Psychiatry 2025, appiajp20240893. PMID: 40988466, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20240893.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Have you had COVID-19?
HIC ID2000033404RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date08/31/2025Recruiting ParticipantsBrain Emotion Circuitry-Targeted Self-Monitoring and Regulation Therapy (BE-SMART)
HIC ID0407026910RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date06/30/2022Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge16 years - 24 years
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Activities
activity Substance use disorder genetics
12/11/2013 - PresentResearchDetailsTaipei, TaiwanAbstract/SynopsisDevelopment of Chinese SSADDA instrument; use in studies of ketamine and opioid dependence
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Media
- Levey et al Nat Neurosci. 2021 Jul;24(7):954-963.
News
- December 02, 2025Source: Nature Communications
Multi-Ancestry Investigation of the Genomics of Erectile Dysfunction
- September 24, 2025Source: BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
Alcohol Use and Risk of Dementia in Diverse Populations: Evidence from Cohort, Case–Control and Mendelian Randomisation Approaches
- September 24, 2025
New Study Reveals Genetic, Psychiatric, and Environmental Factors Contributing to Alcohol Use Disorder
- July 21, 2025
Yale Study: Physical Activity and its Relationship to Health, Well-Being, and Illness
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Psychiatry
VA CT Healthcare Center S116A2, 950 Campbell Avenue
West Haven, CT 06516
United States