Discovering biomarkers of psychiatric risk in adolescence
microRNAs as mediator and biomarkers of psychiatric vulnerability
The identification of early markers of psychiatric risk is urgently needed. This translational line of work examines the role of microRNAs in the development of the prefrontal cortex in adolescence and in individual differences in vulnerability to mental illness. microRNAs can be measured non-invasively in peripheral samples and could serve as longitudinal readouts of brain expression and psychiatric risk in youth.
* Figure taken from Morgunova & Flores (2021) Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
Genetic profiling (PRS)
In collaboration with Drs. Patricia Pelufo Silveira and Michael Meaney we are beginning to use novel approaches to genomic profiling, that are informed by biological function and characterize gene networks, to assess psychiatric risk in adolescence
