Examples of Key Discoveries from ICON-✘ Collaborators:
1
In a genome wide study of >20,000 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases and controls, women had higher PTSD genetic heritability than men. (Duncan et al., 2018)
2
Significant differences in the fetal brain development and metabolic gene expression were detectable in 2nd trimester of obese pregnant women. (Edlow et al. 2014)
3
Dr. Seminara and her colleagues in the MGH Reproductive Endocrine Unit have led or facilitated the discovery of 25 genes that regulate the secretion of reproductive hormones from the brain. Best known is kisspeptin signaling, a key gatekeeper of puberty and fertility, for which she and colleagues developed a bench to bedside translational program to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications for kisspeptin in patients with a range of reproductive disorders. Recently, with Dr. Chan of Boston Children’s Hospital they developed a kisspeptin-stimulation test, a promising novel tool for predicting pubertal outcomes for children with delayed puberty. (Chan YM et al, JCEM, 2020)
4
Genetic determinants of several glycemic traits influence risk for gestational diabetes during pregnancy. (Powe et al. 2018)
5
In the largest genome-wide study to date, sex-by-genotype findings were shared across depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder implicating genes associated with neuronal development, immune and vascular functions. (Blokland et al., 2022)