MBBS, , University of Madras, 1981 Ph.D., , Oxford University, 1985
Research Interests:
The Program for Genetics and Psychoses (PGP), a group within the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh has been investigating genetic causes of psychotic disorders for over 12 years. Under the guidance of Vishwajit Nimgaonkar, MD, PhD, the group has worked closely with patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorders and their family members in order to identify candidate genes / regions that may contribute to the development of these disorders and affect response to treatment.
The PGP is pursuing genetic epidemiological research along a variety of avenues. These include standard linkage and association mapping in large samples recruited in the USA and India. Innovative research investigating gene-environmental interactions is also being pursued. Finally, we are investigating the functional impact of putative risk alleles in vitro and in vivo. Trainees are exposed to a wide variety of clinical, statistical genetic and laboratory training opportunities.
Recent Publications:
Association study of 21 circadian genes with bipolar I disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia. Hader A Mansour, Michael E Talkowski, Joel Wood, Kodavali V Chowdari, Lora McClain, Konasale Prasad, Debra Montrose, Andrea Fagiolini, Edward S Friedman, Michael H Allen, Charles L Bowden, Joseph Calabrese, Rif S El-Mallakh, Michael Escamilla, Stephen V Faraone, Mark D Fossey, Laszlo Gyulai, Jennifer M Loftis, Peter Hauser, Terence A Ketter, Lauren B Marangell, David J Miklowitz, Andrew A Nierenberg, Jayendra Patel, Gary S Sachs, Pamela Sklar, Jordan W Smoller, Nan Laird, Matcheri Keshavan, Michael E Thase, David Axelson, Boris Birmaher, David Lewis, Tim Monk, Ellen Frank, David J Kupfer, Bernie Devlin, Vishwajit L Nimgaonkar Bipolar Disord 2009 Nov;11:701-10
Apoptotic engulfment pathway and schizophrenia. Xiangning Chen, Cuie Sun, Qi Chen, F Anthony O'Neill, Dermot Walsh, Ayman H Fanous, Kodavali V Chowdari, Vishwajit L Nimgaonkar, Adrian Scott, Sibylle G Schwab, Dieter B Wildenauer, Ronglin Che, Wei Tang, Yongyong Shi, Lin He, Xiong-Jian Luo, Bing Su, Todd L Edwards, Zhongming Zhao, Kenneth S Kendler PLoS ONE 2009 ;4:e6875 PMC2731162
Consanguinity associated with increased risk for bipolar I disorder in Egypt. Hader Mansour, Lambertus Klei, Joel Wood, Michael Talkowski, Kodavali Chowdari, Warda Fathi, Ahmed Eissa, Amal Yassin, Hala Salah, Salwa Tobar, Hala El-Boraie, Hanan Gaafar, Mai Elassy, Nahed E Ibrahim, Wafaa El-Bahaei, Mohamed Elsayed, Mohamed Shahda, Eman El Sheshtawy, Osama El-Boraie, Farha El-Chennawi, Bernie Devlin, Vishwajit L Nimgaonkar Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2009 Sep;150B:879-85
