Featured Publications
Genetic Underpinnings of the Transition From Alcohol Consumption to Alcohol Use Disorder: Shared and Unique Genetic Architectures in a Cross-Ancestry Sample
Kember R, Vickers-Smith R, Zhou H, Xu H, Jennings M, Dao C, Davis L, Sanchez-Roige S, Justice A, Gelernter J, Vujkovic M, Kranzler H. Genetic Underpinnings of the Transition From Alcohol Consumption to Alcohol Use Disorder: Shared and Unique Genetic Architectures in a Cross-Ancestry Sample. American Journal Of Psychiatry 2023, 180: 584-593. PMID: 37282553, PMCID: PMC10731616, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21090892.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchEpigenome-wide association study of posttraumatic stress disorder identifies novel loci in U.S. military veterans
Montalvo-Ortiz JL, Gelernter J, Cheng Z, Girgenti MJ, Xu K, Zhang X, Gopalan S, Zhou H, Duman RS, Southwick SM, Krystal JH, Pietrzak R. Epigenome-wide association study of posttraumatic stress disorder identifies novel loci in U.S. military veterans. Translational Psychiatry 2022, 12: 65. PMID: 35177594, PMCID: PMC8854688, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01822-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsEpigenome-wide association studiesAssociation studiesTranscription regulationCpG sitesGenome-wide association studiesCell type proportionsPosttraumatic stress disorderPotential epigenetic biomarkersSignificant CpG sitesEpigenetic mechanismsDNA methylationNovel lociCell signalingEpigenetic biomarkersMethylation analysisAxonal guidanceNovel molecular biomarkersEPIC BeadChipLifetime posttraumatic stress disorderMilitary veteransPostmortem brain tissueMedial orbitofrontal cortexMolecular biomarkersRegulationU.S. military veteransBi-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 directionsGenesLociReproducible 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 GWASs
2023
Positive personality traits moderate persistent high alcohol consumption, determined by polygenic risk in U.S. military veterans: results from a 10-year, population-based, observational cohort study
Na P, Zhou H, Montalvo-Ortiz J, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Petrakis I, Krystal J, Polimanti R, Gelernter J, Pietrzak R. Positive personality traits moderate persistent high alcohol consumption, determined by polygenic risk in U.S. military veterans: results from a 10-year, population-based, observational cohort study. Psychological Medicine 2023, 53: 7893-7901. PMID: 37642191, DOI: 10.1017/s003329172300199x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMulti-trait genome-wide association analyses leveraging alcohol use disorder findings identify novel loci for smoking behaviors in the Million Veteran Program
Cheng Y, Dao C, Zhou H, Li B, Kember R, Toikumo S, Zhao H, Gelernter J, Kranzler H, Justice A, Xu K. Multi-trait genome-wide association analyses leveraging alcohol use disorder findings identify novel loci for smoking behaviors in the Million Veteran Program. Translational Psychiatry 2023, 13: 148. PMID: 37147289, PMCID: PMC10162964, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02409-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSingle-trait genome-wide association studiesGenome-wide association studiesNovel lociPower of GWASJoint genome-wide association studyGenome-wide significant lociMillion Veteran ProgramGenome-wide associationSubstance use traitsGWAS summary statisticsNovel genetic variantsMulti-trait analysisFunctional annotationUse traitsSignificant lociHeritable traitMultiple lociAssociation studiesColocalization analysisLociPleiotropic effectsMTAgVeteran ProgramGenetic variantsTraits
2022
Factor structure of the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL-17) in 279,897 million veteran program participants
Overstreet C, Levey D, Zhou H, Harrington K, Quaden R, Stein M, Gelernter J, Pietrzak R, Program M. Factor structure of the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL-17) in 279,897 million veteran program participants. Psychiatry Research 2022, 319: 114994. PMID: 36516638, PMCID: PMC10184787, DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114994.Peer-Reviewed Original Research