Featured Publications
Cross-ancestry meta-analysis of opioid use disorder uncovers novel loci with predominant effects in brain regions associated with addiction
Kember RL, Vickers-Smith R, Xu H, Toikumo S, Niarchou M, Zhou H, Hartwell EE, Crist RC, Rentsch CT, Davis L, Justice A, Sanchez-Roige S, Kampman K, Gelernter J, Kranzler H. Cross-ancestry meta-analysis of opioid use disorder uncovers novel loci with predominant effects in brain regions associated with addiction. Nature Neuroscience 2022, 25: 1279-1287. PMID: 36171425, PMCID: PMC9682545, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01160-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsOpioid use disorderGenome-wide association studiesWide significant lociGene expression enrichmentSignificant genetic correlationsCell type groupSignificant lociAssociation studiesExpression enrichmentMillion Veteran ProgramGenetic correlationsUse disordersLociBrain regionsExonic variantsIntronic variantsSubstance use disordersTraitsBiological basisOpioid epidemicPsychiatric disordersVeteran ProgramBrain diseasesTSNARE1FBXW4Reproducible Genetic Risk Loci for Anxiety: Results From ∼200,000 Participants in the Million Veteran Program
Levey DF, Gelernter J, Polimanti R, Zhou H, Cheng Z, Aslan M, Quaden R, Concato J, Radhakrishnan K, Bryois J, Sullivan PF, Stein M. Reproducible Genetic Risk Loci for Anxiety: Results From ∼200,000 Participants in the Million Veteran Program. American Journal Of Psychiatry 2020, 177: 223-232. PMID: 31906708, PMCID: PMC7869502, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19030256.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNovel genome-wide significant associationsGene expressionGenome-wide significant signalsGenome-wide significant associationMillion Veteran ProgramWide association studyGenetic risk lociSignificant genetic correlationsGenetic risk mechanismsGenetic architectureGlobal regulatorChromosome 3Risk lociChromosome 6Chromosome 7Association studiesLargest GWASLarge biobanksGlobal regulationGenetic correlationsContinuous traitsVeteran ProgramGWASsLociPrevious GWASsGenome-wide association study of alcohol consumption and use disorder in 274,424 individuals from multiple populations
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. Nature Communications 2019, 10: 1499. PMID: 30940813, PMCID: PMC6445072, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09480-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesAssociation studiesMillion Veteran Program sampleGenetic correlationsWide significant lociSignificant genetic correlationsPolygenic risk scoresCell type groupSignificant lociHeritable traitEnrichment analysisTraitsMultiple populationsLociPhenotypeProgram samples
2024
Human genetics and epigenetics of alcohol use disorder
Zhou H, Gelernter J. Human genetics and epigenetics of alcohol use disorder. Journal Of Clinical Investigation 2024, 134: e172885. PMID: 39145449, PMCID: PMC11324314, DOI: 10.1172/jci172885.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEpigenome-wide association studiesEWAS studiesPower of GWASTranscriptome-wide associationGenome-wide scanAlcohol use disorderWhole-genome sequencingDrug-gene interactionsSingle-cell sequencingAssociation studiesDownstream analysisHuman geneticsGenetic variantsEpigenetic risk factorsVariant functionEpigenetic changesSpatial transcriptomicsUse disorderEpigeneticsDisease risk predictionGenetic correlationsDiversity of populationGeneticsComplex etiologyEnvironmental factorsGenome-wide association study of the common retinal disorder epiretinal membrane: Significant risk loci in each of three American populations
Gelernter J, Levey D, Galimberti M, Harrington K, Zhou H, Adhikari K, Gupta P, Program V, Gaziano J, Eliott D, Stein M. Genome-wide association study of the common retinal disorder epiretinal membrane: Significant risk loci in each of three American populations. Cell Genomics 2024, 4: 100582. PMID: 38870908, PMCID: PMC11228954, DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100582.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesMillion Veteran ProgramRisk lociAssociation studiesTrans-ancestry meta-analysisSignificant risk lociPathway enrichment analysisEpiretinal membraneTrans-ancestryGenome-wideMultiple traitsGenetic associationEnrichment analysisGene expressionEuropean AmericansLoss of visual acuityVeteran ProgramGenetic correlationsLociBiological mechanismsAmerican populationVisual acuityRetinal conditionsControl individualsRetinal surfaceGenetic influences and causal pathways shared between cannabis use disorder and other substance use traits
Galimberti M, Levey D, Deak J, Zhou H, Stein M, Gelernter J. Genetic influences and causal pathways shared between cannabis use disorder and other substance use traits. Molecular Psychiatry 2024, 29: 2905-2910. PMID: 38580809, PMCID: PMC11419938, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02548-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSubstance use disordersProblematic alcohol useSubstance use traitsCannabis use disorderCannabis useOpioid use disorderUse disorderGenomic structural equation modelingSmoking initiationLifetime cannabis useLegalization of cannabis useGlobal genetic correlationsProblematic substance useStructural equation modelingNicotine dependenceGenetic influencesCannabisSubstance useFagerstrom TestAlcohol useMendelian randomizationBidirectional relationshipGenetic correlationsDisordersSmoking cessation
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
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
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 ResearchConceptsGenome-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 one
2021
Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction
Karlsson Linnér R, Mallard TT, Barr PB, Sanchez-Roige S, Madole JW, Driver MN, Poore HE, de Vlaming R, Grotzinger AD, Tielbeek JJ, Johnson EC, Liu M, Rosenthal SB, Ideker T, Zhou H, Kember RL, Pasman JA, Verweij KJH, Liu DJ, Vrieze S, Kranzler H, Gelernter J, Harris K, Tucker-Drob E, Waldman I, Palmer A, Harden K, Koellinger P, Dick D. Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction. Nature Neuroscience 2021, 24: 1367-1376. PMID: 34446935, PMCID: PMC8484054, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00908-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityBehavior, AddictiveBehavioral SymptomsComputational BiologyCrimeGenetic Association StudiesGenome-Wide Association StudyHIV InfectionsHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicMultifactorial InheritanceMultivariate AnalysisOpioid-Related DisordersReproducibility of ResultsSelf-ControlSuicideUnemploymentInvestigation of convergent and divergent genetic influences underlying schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder
Johnson EC, Kapoor M, Hatoum AS, Zhou H, Polimanti R, Wendt FR, Walters RK, Lai D, Kember RL, Hartz S, Meyers JL, Peterson RE, Ripke S, Bigdeli TB, Fanous AH, Pato CN, Pato MT, Goate AM, Kranzler HR, O'Donovan MC, Walters JTR, Gelernter J, Edenberg HJ, Agrawal A. Investigation of convergent and divergent genetic influences underlying schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder. Psychological Medicine 2021, 53: 1196-1204. PMID: 34231451, PMCID: PMC8738774, DOI: 10.1017/s003329172100266x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesGenome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphismsLarge-scale genome-wide association studiesSignificant single nucleotide polymorphismsIndependent genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphismsSignificant genetic correlationsGenomic regionsSingle nucleotide polymorphismsGene expressionGenetic covariancePleiotropic associationsAssociation studiesGenetic correlationsGenetic variantsNucleotide polymorphismsGenetic overlapDisorder-specific effectsAlcohol use disorderGenetic influencesGenesUse disorders
2018
Genome‐wide association study of cognitive flexibility assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
Zhang H, Zhou H, Lencz T, Farrer LA, Kranzler HR, Gelernter J. Genome‐wide association study of cognitive flexibility assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. American Journal Of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics 2018, 177: 511-519. PMID: 30134085, PMCID: PMC6110090, DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32642.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenome-wide association studiesSingle nucleotide polymorphismsAssociation studiesGenome-wide significant associationUbiquitin-specific peptidase 9Top single nucleotide polymorphismsComplex trait analysisEnriched gene setsPolygenic risk score analysisCommon single nucleotide polymorphismsGWS associationsSame effect directionGene setsPopulation variationProtein degradationNongenetic factorsTrait analysisChromosome 15Genetic correlationsRisk score analysisNucleotide polymorphismsEffect directionEuropean-American subjectsGenetic factorsBrain development