20-01-2023

Seminario de Investigación: Genomics in the era of personalized medicine: current perspectives applied to psychiatric diseases

Claudio Toma. Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa-CSIC, Madrid

Abstract: The identification of genes in psychiatric diseases is our front-line research. Family studies have established a strong genetic contribution for most psychiatric diseases, but the specific genes involved still remain largely unknown.

Genome-wide approaches indicate that psychiatric disorders are likely to be caused by a combination of common variants, each with a small effect, and multiple rare variants of higher penetrance. In our group we adopt several genomic approaches and a combination of them to identify susceptibility genes implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SCZ). We work closely with psychiatrists to develop novel technologies integrating genetic and clinical data aiming at increase patient monitoring systems and personalized medicine.

Bio: Dr Toma is group leader in psychiatric genetics at Severo Ochoa Centre for Molecular Biology (CBMSO) in Madrid (Spain). He holds an honorary appointment at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and is adjunct senior lecturer at University of New South Wales – Sydney (Australia). He obtained his PhD in human genetics at the University of Bologna (Italy) and carried out research projects in the genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (University of Oxford, UK) and in the genetics of psychiatric and Mendelian diseases at the University of Barcelona (Spain).  Dr Toma has extensive experience in association studies, linkage studies, copy number variant (CNV) analyses and whole exome/genome sequencing. He has identified novel candidate genes for autism spectrum disorder and bipolar disorder and suggested new genetic mechanisms.

Fecha y Hora: viernes 20 enero, 12.30 horas

Lugar: Seminario 4