Selected Publications*

(*contributed equally)

Zhou H*, Wang L, Mao Z, Deans PJM, Kember RL, Chen Q, Zakiniaeiz Y, Kohler R, Peltier MR, Verplaetse TL; VA Million Veteran Program; Potenza MN, Brennand KJ, Justice AC, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J, McKee SA. Genotype-by-sex interaction analyses for alcohol use disorder across biobanks. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2025 Nov;49(11):2485-2493. doi: 10.1111/acer.70173.

Lee CY, Hwang A, McRiley D, Lee J, Thibodeau G, Duman C, Zhang X, Skarica M, Coudriet J, Xu S, Terwilliger R, Sliby AN, Wang J, Nguyen T, Liu Y, Li H, Dai Y, Duan Z, Lei Y, Lin Y, Glausier JR, Lewis DA, Gelernter J, Holtzheimer PE, Xu K, Zhou H, Zhao H, Thompson S, Krystal JH, Che A, Taylor JR, Zhang J, Girgenti MJ. Central amygdala single-nucleus atlas reveals chromatin and gene transcription dynamics in human alcohol use disorder. Nat Commun. 2026 Jan 19. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68351-1.'

Wang L, Nuñez YZ, Martínez-Magaña JJ, Rivera-Hernandez M, Mao Z, Brennand KJ, Montalvo-Ortiz JL, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J*, Zhou H*. Whole-exome sequencing study of opioid dependence offers novel insights into the contributions of exome variants. Transl Psychiatry. 2025 Oct 6;15(1):380. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03578-y.

Galimberti M, Levey DF, Deak JD, Adhikari K, Overstreet C, Gupta P, Nitin R, Zhou H, Lake NJ, Harrington KM, Djousse L, Davis LK; VA Million Veteran Program; Gaziano JM, Stein MB, Gelernter J. A contextual genomic perspective on physical activity and its relationship to health, well being and illness. Nat Genet. 2025 Aug;57(8):1860-1871. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02260-9.

Wang L, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J*, Zhou H*. Investigating the Contribution of Coding Variants in Alcohol Use Disorder Using Whole-Exome Sequencing Across Ancestries. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Jul 1;98(1):46-55. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.01.020.

Zhou H, Gelernter J. Human genetics and epigenetics of alcohol use disorder. J Clin Invest. 2024 Aug 15;134(16):e172885. doi: 10.1172/JCI172885.

Toikumo S, Vickers-Smith R, Jinwala Z, Xu H, Saini D, Hartwell EE, Pavicic M, Sullivan KA, Xu K, Jacobson DA, Gelernter J, Rentsch CT; Million Veteran Program; Stahl E, Cheatle M, Zhou H, Waxman SG, Justice AC, Kember RL, Kranzler HR. A multi-ancestry genetic study of pain intensity in 598,339 veterans. Nat Med. 2024 Apr;30(4):1075-1084. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-02839-5.

Zhou H, Kember RL, Deak JD, Xu H, Toikumo S, Yuan K, Lind PA, Farajzadeh L, Wang L, Hatoum AS, Johnson J, Lee H, Mallard TT, Xu J, Johnston KJA, Johnson EC, Nielsen TT, Galimberti M, Dao C, Levey DF, Overstreet C, Byrne EM, Gillespie NA, Gordon S, Hickie IB, Whitfield JB, Xu K, Zhao H, Huckins LM, Davis LK, Sanchez-Roige S, Madden PAF, Heath AC, Medland SE, Martin NG, Ge T, Smoller JW, Hougaard DM, Børglum AD, Demontis D, Krystal JH, Gaziano JM, Edenberg HJ, Agrawal A; Million Veteran Program; Justice AC, Stein MB, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Multi-ancestry study of the genetics of problematic alcohol use in over 1 million individuals. Nat Med. 2023 Dec;29(12):3184-3192. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02653-5.

Levey DF, Galimberti M, Deak JD, Wendt FR, Bhattacharya A, Koller D, Harrington KM, Quaden R, Johnson EC, Gupta P, Biradar M, Lam M, Cooke M, Rajagopal VM, Empke SLL, Zhou H, Nunez YZ, Kranzler HR, Edenberg HJ, Agrawal A, Smoller JW, Lencz T, Hougaard DM, Børglum AD, Demontis D; Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program; Gaziano JM, Gandal MJ, Polimanti R, Stein MB, Gelernter J. Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder yields insight into disease biology and public health implications. Nat Genet. 2023 Dec;55(12):2094-2103. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01563-z.

Topiwala A, Wang C, Ebmeier KP, Burgess S, Bell S, Levey DF, Zhou H, McCracken C, Roca-Fernández A, Petersen SE, Raman B, Husain M, Gelernter J, Miller KL, Smith SM, Nichols TE. Associations between moderate alcohol consumption, brain iron, and cognition in UK Biobank participants: Observational and mendelian randomization analyses. PLoS Med. 2022 Jul 14;19(7):e1004039. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004039.

Zhou H, Kalayasiri R, Sun Y, Nuñez YZ, Deng HW, Chen XD, Justice AC, Kranzler HR, Chang S, Lu L, Shi J, Sanichwankul K, Mutirangura A, Malison RT, Gelernter J. Genome-wide meta-analysis of alcohol use disorder in East Asians. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022 Sep;47(10):1791-1797. doi: 10.1038/s41386-022-01265-w.

Zhou H, Rentsch CT, Cheng Z, Kember RL, Nunez YZ, Sherva RM, Tate JP, Dao C, Xu K, Polimanti R, Farrer LA, Justice AC, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J; Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program. Association of OPRM1 Functional Coding Variant With Opioid Use Disorder: A Genome-Wide Association Study. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020 Oct 1;77(10):1072-1080. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1206.

Zhou H, Sealock JM, Sanchez-Roige S, Clarke TK, Levey DF, Cheng Z, Li B, Polimanti R, Kember RL, Smith RV, Thygesen JH, Morgan MY, Atkinson SR, Thursz MR, Nyegaard M, Mattheisen M, Børglum AD, Johnson EC, Justice AC, Palmer AA, McQuillin A, Davis LK, Edenberg HJ, Agrawal A, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Genome-wide meta-analysis of problematic alcohol use in 435,563 individuals yields insights into biology and relationships with other traits. Nat Neurosci. 2020 Jul;23(7):809-818. doi: 10.1038/s41593-020-0643-5.

Cao H, Zhou H, Cannon TD. Functional connectome-wide associations of schizophrenia polygenic risk. Mol Psychiatry. 2021 Jun;26(6):2553-2561. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-0699-3.

Kranzler HR*, Zhou H*, Kember RL*, Vickers Smith R, Justice AC, Damrauer S, Tsao PS, Klarin D, Baras A, Reid J, Overton J, Rader DJ, Cheng Z, Tate JP, Becker WC, Concato J, Xu K, Polimanti R, Zhao H, Gelernter J. Genome-wide association study of alcohol consumption and use disorder in 274,424 individuals from multiple populations. Nat Commun. 2019 Apr 2;10(1):1499. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09480-8.

Zhou H, Polimanti R, Yang BZ, Wang Q, Han S, Sherva R, Nuñez YZ, Zhao H, Farrer LA, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Genetic Risk Variants Associated With Comorbid Alcohol Dependence and Major Depression. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017 Dec 1;74(12):1234-1241. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3275.