Janitza Montalvo-Ortiz, PhD
Assistant Professor of PsychiatryCards
About
Titles
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Biography
My research interests include the study of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms associated with psychiatry disorders. I investigate how trauma-related events increase the vulnerability to develop mental disorders later in life.
Last Updated on June 12, 2025.
Appointments
Psychiatry
Assistant ProfessorPrimaryBiomedical Informatics & Data Science
Assistant ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- PhD
- Northwestern University, Neuroscience (2014)
- BA
- University of Puerto Rico, Biology (2009)
Research
Publications
2025
Developmental timing of index trauma exposure and accelerated epigenetic aging in United States military veterans
Tamman A, Nagamatsu S, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Averill L, Dunn E, Krystal J, Gelernter J, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Polimanti R, Pietrzak R. Developmental timing of index trauma exposure and accelerated epigenetic aging in United States military veterans. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2025, 182: 107568. PMID: 41016323, DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107568.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchUnited States military veteransTrauma typesTrauma exposureMilitary veteransNational Health and ResilienceExposure to interpersonal violenceInterpersonal violenceNon-interpersonal traumaVeterans StudySelf-reported ageTrauma characteristicsEpigenetic ageTrauma burdenVeteransChronological ageGrimAgeViolenceGreater oddsDevelopmental timeTraumaYounger ageRecencyLong-term health risksPotential confoundersAgeIntegrated Gene and Isoform-Level Transcriptomic Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Human Prefrontal Cortex
Núñez-Ríos D, Nagamatsu S, Martínez-Magaña J, Montalvo-Ortiz J. Integrated Gene and Isoform-Level Transcriptomic Analysis of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Human Prefrontal Cortex. The Yale Journal Of Biology And Medicine 2025, 98: 89-103. PMID: 40589944, PMCID: PMC12204229, DOI: 10.59249/vlmz6974.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPosttraumatic stress disorderAdverse childhood experiencesPsychiatric disordersChildhood experiencesIncreased risk of psychiatric disordersPostmortem brains of individualsRisk of psychiatric disordersAdverse childhood experience historyDorsal anterior cingulateAssociated with adverse childhood experiencesComplex psychiatric disorderHuman prefrontal cortexBrains of individualsPrefrontal cortexAnterior cingulateStress disorderPostmortem brainsSgPFCDisordersNeurogenesis regulationOFCIsoform usageDysregulationDLPFCDiverse outcomesThe Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: discoveries and directions
Agrawal A, Bulik C, Abebe D, Andreassen O, Atkinson E, Choi K, Corvin A, Davies H, Davis L, Docherty A, Edenberg H, Franke B, Gelernter J, Giusti-Rodríguez P, Hettema J, Hjerling-Leffler J, Huang H, Johnson E, Lewis C, Lu Y, Lynall M, Martin J, McIntosh A, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Mullins N, Nievergelt C, O'Connell K, O'Donovan M, Okewole A, Peterson R, Posthuma D, Sebat J, Smoller J, Sud R, Viswanath B, Walters J, Won H, Wray N, Sullivan P, Consortium T. The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: discoveries and directions. The Lancet Psychiatry 2025, 12: 600-610. PMID: 40582370, PMCID: PMC12332855, DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(25)00124-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPsychiatric Genomics ConsortiumGenome-wide association studiesFunctional genomics dataRare genetic variationPsychiatric disordersGenomic dataAssociation studiesGenetic variationGenomic discoveriesNeurodevelopmental conditionsPolygenic riskPolygenic scoresGenomics ConsortiumGenetic causeRare variantsRare variationImplementation processGlobal morbidityFunctional attributesPriority areasIntegrated findingsMultiple psychiatric disordersNext phaseVariantsDiscoveryCharacterizing the Social Epigenome in Mexican Patients with Early-Onset Psychosis
Ruiz-Ramos D, Martínez-Magaña J, Juárez-Rojop I, Nolasco-Rosales G, Sosa-Hernández F, Cruz-Castillo J, Cavazos J, Callejas A, Zavaleta-Ramírez P, Zorrilla-Dosal J, Lanzagorta N, Nicolini H, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Glahn D, Genis-Mendoza A. Characterizing the Social Epigenome in Mexican Patients with Early-Onset Psychosis. Genes 2025, 16: 591. PMID: 40428414, PMCID: PMC12111507, DOI: 10.3390/genes16050591.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEarly-onset psychosisRisk scoreEpigenetic ageEpigenome-wide association studiesAssociation studiesYears of educationShort life expectancyMexican patientsPsychiatric admissionsAssociation of DNA methylationSocial epigenomicsYears of schoolingAccelerated Epigenetic AgingLife expectancyAssociated with panic disorderEnvironmental exposuresEarly-onsetGlobal functioningClinical characteristicsClinical manifestationsDNA methylationAgeEpigenetic mechanismsPsychosisManifestation of psychosisEpigenetic and genetic profiling of comorbidity patterns among substance dependence diagnoses
Pathak G, Pietrzak R, Lacobelle A, Overstreet C, Wendt F, Deak J, Friligkou E, Nunez Y, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Levey D, Kranzler H, Gelernter J, Polimanti R. Epigenetic and genetic profiling of comorbidity patterns among substance dependence diagnoses. Molecular Psychiatry 2025, 30: 4435-4443. PMID: 40247127, PMCID: PMC12343199, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-025-03031-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSubstance dependence diagnosesLatent class analysisDependence diagnosisLatent classesComorbidity patternsPolygenic scoresPolygenic overlapSD diagnosisPsychosocial traitsEpigenetic mechanismsClass analysisEpigenome-wide significant associationsEpigenome-wide association analysisCo-occurrenceTraitsIndividualsAssociated with CpG sitesAssociationComorbidityTDSD patternSubstancesEpigenome-wide changesIndividuals of European descentSignificant associationPsychiatric genetics in the diverse landscape of Latin American populations
Bruxel E, Rovaris D, Belangero S, Chavarría-Soley G, Cuellar-Barboza A, Martínez-Magaña J, Nagamatsu S, Nievergelt C, Núñez-Ríos D, Ota V, Peterson R, Sloofman L, Adams A, Albino E, Alvarado A, Andrade-Brito D, Arguello-Pascualli P, Bandeira C, Bau C, Bulik C, Buxbaum J, Cappi C, Corral-Frias N, Corrales A, Corsi-Zuelli F, Crowley J, Cupertino R, da Silva B, De Almeida S, De la Hoz J, Forero D, Fries G, Gelernter J, González-Giraldo Y, Grevet E, Grice D, Hernández-Garayua A, Hettema J, Ibáñez A, Ionita-Laza I, Lattig M, Lima Y, Lin Y, López-León S, Loureiro C, Martínez-Cerdeño V, Martínez-Levy G, Melin K, Moreno-De-Luca D, Muniz Carvalho C, Olivares A, Oliveira V, Ormond R, Palmer A, Panzenhagen A, Passos-Bueno M, Peng Q, Pérez-Palma E, Prieto M, Roussos P, Sanchez-Roige S, Santamaría-García H, Shansis F, Sharp R, Storch E, Tavares M, Tietz G, Torres-Hernández B, Tovo-Rodrigues L, Trelles P, Trujillo-ChiVacuan E, Velásquez M, Vera-Urbina F, Voloudakis G, Wegman-Ostrosky T, Zhen-Duan J, Zhou H, Santoro M, Nicolini H, Atkinson E, Giusti-Rodríguez P, Montalvo-Ortiz J. Psychiatric genetics in the diverse landscape of Latin American populations. Nature Genetics 2025, 57: 1074-1088. PMID: 40175716, PMCID: PMC12133068, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02127-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesPsychiatric genomicsPsychiatric genome-wide association studiesLarge-scale genome-wide association studiesGenetic risk lociNon-European populationsGenetic diversityRisk lociGenetic admixtureBurden of psychiatric disordersAssociation studiesPsychiatric disordersEuropean ancestryPsychiatric geneticsGenomeHealthcare disparitiesConsortium effortLatin American populationsPromote equityEnvironmental factorsDiversityAmerican populationDiverse landscapeLociAncestryDiversifying Psychiatric Genomics Globally Inclusive Strategies Toward Health Equity
Giusti-Rodríguez P, Okewole N, Jain S, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Peterson R. Diversifying Psychiatric Genomics Globally Inclusive Strategies Toward Health Equity. Psychiatric Clinics Of North America 2025, 48: 241-256. PMID: 40348415, DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2025.01.003.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPerpetuate health inequitiesHealth care outcomesMental health conditionsHealth inequalitiesCare outcomesMental healthHealth conditionsAncestral diversityPsychiatric geneticsCapacity buildingData useDisease etiologyEnvironmental factorsPrecision medicineClinical impactGlobal collaborationHealthParticipantsResearch methodOutcomesMedicineGeneticsPopulationPracticeResearch
2024
OMICS Sciences for Aging Studies
Gómez-Verjan J, Rincón-Heredia R, Poot-Hernández A, Martínez-Magaña J, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Estrella-Parra E, Castillo-Vázquez S, Gutiérrez-Robledo L, Rivero-Segura N. OMICS Sciences for Aging Studies. 2024, 227-237. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-76469-1_16.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchEpigenome-wide association studies identify novel DNA methylation sites associated with PTSD: a meta-analysis of 23 military and civilian cohorts
Katrinli S, Wani A, Maihofer A, Ratanatharathorn A, Daskalakis N, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Núñez-Ríos D, Zannas A, Zhao X, Aiello A, Ashley-Koch A, Avetyan D, Baker D, Beckham J, Boks M, Brick L, Bromet E, Champagne F, Chen C, Dalvie S, Dennis M, Fatumo S, Fortier C, Galea S, Garrett M, Geuze E, Grant G, Hauser M, Hayes J, Hemmings S, Huber B, Jajoo A, Jansen S, Kessler R, Kimbrel N, King A, Kleinman J, Koen N, Koenen K, Kuan P, Liberzon I, Linnstaedt S, Lori A, Luft B, Luykx J, Marx C, McLean S, Mehta D, Milberg W, Miller M, Mufford M, Musanabaganwa C, Mutabaruka J, Mutesa L, Nemeroff C, Nugent N, Orcutt H, Qin X, Rauch S, Ressler K, Risbrough V, Rutembesa E, Rutten B, Seedat S, Stein D, Stein M, Toikumo S, Ursano R, Uwineza A, Verfaellie M, Vermetten E, Vinkers C, Ware E, Wildman D, Wolf E, Young R, Zhao Y, van den Heuvel L, Uddin M, Nievergelt C, Smith A, Logue M. Epigenome-wide association studies identify novel DNA methylation sites associated with PTSD: a meta-analysis of 23 military and civilian cohorts. Genome Medicine 2024, 16: 147. PMID: 39696436, PMCID: PMC11658418, DOI: 10.1186/s13073-024-01417-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEpigenome-wide association studiesDNA methylationPsychiatric Genomics ConsortiumPost-traumatic stress disorderAssociation studiesMeta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studiesMethylation levelsGenome-wide expression dataEpigenetic gene regulationBrain regionsPGC-PTSDAnnotated genesBlood cell proportionsCpG lociGene regulationSusceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorderExpression dataAssociated with post-traumatic stress disorderIllumina HumanMethylation450Genomics ConsortiumOccurrence of post-traumatic stress disorderAssociated with biological differencesCpGMultiple brain regionsPostmortem brain samplesPosttraumatic Stress Disorder, Obesity, and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging Among US Military Veterans
Fischer I, Na P, Nagamatsu S, Jeste D, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Krystal J, Polimanti R, Gelernter J, Pietrzak R. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Obesity, and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging Among US Military Veterans. JAMA Psychiatry 2024, 81: 1276-1277. PMID: 39476130, PMCID: PMC11581715, DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3403.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
News
News
- April 22, 2025
Groundbreaking Study Highlights Critical Gap in Global Mental Health Research
- September 18, 2024
Montalvo-Ortiz Featured on Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists
- December 14, 2023
Montalvo-Ortiz Accepts Pamela Sklar Innovation Award For Latin American Genomics Consortium
- October 17, 2023
Construyendo Comunidad: Inaugural Conference Unites Latine Health Professionals