Featured Publications
Bi-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 ResearchConceptsTranscriptome-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 directionsGenesLoci
2024
Polygenic liability for anxiety in association with comorbid anxiety in multiple sclerosis
Kowalec K, Harder A, Dolovich C, Fitzgerald K, Salter A, Lu Y, Bernstein C, Bolton J, Cutter G, Fisk J, Gelernter J, Graff L, Hägg S, Hitchon C, Levey D, Lublin F, McKay K, Patten S, Patki A, Stein M, Tiwari H, Wolinsky J, Marrie R. Polygenic liability for anxiety in association with comorbid anxiety in multiple sclerosis. Annals Of Clinical And Translational Neurology 2024, 11: 1393-1404. PMID: 38715244, PMCID: PMC11187942, DOI: 10.1002/acn3.52025.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPolygenic scoresEuropean genetic ancestryUK BiobankAnxious symptomsIncreased oddsGenetic ancestrySelf-reported physician-diagnosedGenetic burdenComorbid anxietyGenome-wide association studiesCase-control designUnited States cohortDirection of effectAssociated with comorbid anxietyPhysician-diagnosedAssociated with disability progressionIndex diseaseStates cohortAnxiety symptomsMeta-analysesAssociation studiesSummary statisticsCurrent symptomsPolygenic liabilityRisk predictionWhole-exome sequencing in UK Biobank reveals rare genetic architecture for depression
Tian R, Ge T, Kweon H, Rocha D, Lam M, Liu J, Singh K, Levey D, Gelernter J, Stein M, Tsai E, Huang H, Chabris C, Lencz T, Runz H, Chen C. Whole-exome sequencing in UK Biobank reveals rare genetic architecture for depression. Nature Communications 2024, 15: 1755. PMID: 38409228, PMCID: PMC10897433, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45774-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesRare coding variantsWhole-exome sequencingGenetic architectureGenetic relationshipsLoss-of-function intolerant genesContribution of rare coding variantsRare damagingAssociated with risk of depressionElectronic health recordsUK Biobank participantsPolygenic risk scoresRisk of depressionAssociated with riskIntolerant genesRisk lociAssociation studiesCoding variantsBiobank participantsHealth recordsUK BiobankDepression definitionsDepression riskBurden analysisRare variantsPleiotropy and genetically inferred causality linking multisite chronic pain to substance use disorders
Koller D, Friligkou E, Stiltner B, Pathak G, Løkhammer S, Levey D, Zhou H, Hatoum A, Deak J, Kember R, Treur J, Kranzler H, Johnson E, Stein M, Gelernter J, Polimanti R. Pleiotropy and genetically inferred causality linking multisite chronic pain to substance use disorders. Molecular Psychiatry 2024, 29: 2021-2030. PMID: 38355787, PMCID: PMC11324857, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02446-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMultisite chronic painSubstance use disordersChronic painUK BiobankUse disorderMillion Veteran ProgramSNP-based heritabilityGenome-wide association statisticsMR analysisPotential causal relationshipVeteran ProgramPleiotropy analysisTobacco usePleiotropic variantsOpioid use disorderAssociation statisticsCannabis use disorderAlcohol use disorderMeta-analysesBrain-wide analysisImaging phenotypesBi-directional relationshipPainPleiotropyBiobank
2023
Genome-wide association studies and cross-population meta-analyses investigating short and long sleep duration
Austin-Zimmerman I, Levey D, Giannakopoulou O, Deak J, Galimberti M, Adhikari K, Zhou H, Denaxas S, Irizar H, Kuchenbaecker K, McQuillin A, Concato J, Buysse D, Gaziano J, Gottlieb D, Polimanti R, Stein M, Bramon E, Gelernter J. Genome-wide association studies and cross-population meta-analyses investigating short and long sleep duration. Nature Communications 2023, 14: 6059. PMID: 37770476, PMCID: PMC10539313, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41249-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAssociation studiesGenome-wide association studiesGenetic correlationsWide association studyLinkage disequilibrium scorePositive genetic correlationSleep traitsIndependent lociMillion Veteran ProgramTraitsAncestryUK BiobankVeteran ProgramMendelian randomisationLociHeritabilitySNPsPhenotypeEast AsiansSimilar patternCardiometabolic phenotypes
2022
Understanding 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 ResearchConceptsCoronary 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 disorderUsing phenotype risk scores to enhance gene discovery for generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder
Wendt FR, Pathak GA, Deak JD, De Angelis F, Koller D, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Lebovitch DS, Levey DF, Stein MB, Kranzler HR, Koenen KC, Gelernter J, Huckins LM, Polimanti R. Using phenotype risk scores to enhance gene discovery for generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Molecular Psychiatry 2022, 27: 2206-2215. PMID: 35181757, PMCID: PMC9133008, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01469-y.Peer-Reviewed Original Research