Elliot S. Gershon, M.D.

Research Summary

 As many as 450 million people worldwide suffer from a mental or behavioral disorder, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are two of the six leading causes of years lived with disability. Identification of the genetic factors of bipolar and schizophrenia disease will improve our understanding of these complex diseases, and will lead to better diagnosis and treatment.

Our lab focuses on using a comprehensive approach comprising genetics, bioinformatics, genomics, and animal models to identify the molecular mechanisms of major psychiatric diseases, particularly bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Our long term goal is to host a series of research projects which first use integrated approaches to identify genetic factors of psychiatric disease, then use animal models to study their in vivo biological functions.

Selected Papers

Christian SL, Brune CW, Sudi J, Kumar RA, Liu S, Karamohamed S Badner JA, Matsui S, Conroy J, McQuaid D, Gergel J, Hatchwell E, Gilliam TC, Gershon ES, Nowak NJ, Dobyns WB, Cook Jr EH. Novel submicroscopic chromosomal abnormalities detected in autism spectrum disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2008; 63(12):1111-1117

Shi J, Badner JA, Gershon ES, Liu C. Allelic association of G72/G30 with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a comprehensive meta-analysis. Schizophr Res 2008; 98(1-3):89-97

Zhang D, Cheng L, Qian Y, Alliey-Rodriguez N, Kelsoe JR, Greenwood T, Nievergelt C, Barrett TB, McKinney R, Schork N, Smith EN, Bloss C, Nurnberger J, Edenberg HJ, Foroud T, Sheftner W, Lawson WB, Nwulia EA, Hipolito M, Coryell W, Rice J, Byerley W, McMahon F, Schulze TG, Berrettini W, Potash JB, Belmonte PL, Zandi PP, McInnis MG, Zöllner S, Craig D, Szelinger S, Koller D, Christian SL, Liu C, Gershon ES. (2008) Singleton deletions throughout the genome increase risk of bipolar disorder. Mol Psychiatry. 2008 Dec 30.

Additional Papers (PubMed)