Assistant Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
I have a background in psychiatry, molecular biology, and biochemistry, with specific interest and training in bipolar disorder, suicide, aging, epigenetics, and cell signaling pathways. I am currently Assistant Professor in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (McGovern Medical School) and Adjunct Faculty at the Center for Precision Health (School of Biomedical Informatics) at UTHealth. I have been working on the search for the epigenetic and biochemical underpinnings of bipolar disorder for the past 17 years. Out of 135 peer-reviewed articles (4,366 citations, h-index: 38), my most recent studies have shown a significant contribution of biochemical and epigenetic mechanisms to the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder and suicide, particularly as they relate to accelerated aging and cognitive decline in these conditions. Moreover, I have been involved with key studies over the last decade that have helped delineate bipolar disorder as a complex multisystemic neurobiological condition, with ongoing projects as PI focused on gene expression, DNA methylation, and polygenic risk scores in blood and postmortem brain tissues of individuals with bipolar disorder with funding from the NIMH, the Milken Institute, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and UTHealth.
