Dr. Abraham Palmer presented at the Genetic Seminar Series at Emory University School of Medicine on October 3rd. His talk was titled “Behavioral genetics: from discovery to translation”.

The P50 Center’s proposal, titled “Genome-wide mapping of gene-microbiome interaction: implication in behavior”, has been selected for funding by the UC San Diego’s Center for Microbiome Innovation. The purpose of these seed grants is to jump start microbiome research in San Diego and spark new research collaborations.

The NIDA National Center of Excellence for Genome-Wide Association Studies in Outbred Rats (P50DA037844) was founded in 2014 to utilize cutting-edge genetic methods to elucidate the genetics of drug abuse-related behaviors in rats. Dr. Abraham Palmer is the Center’s Director.

The article, “Sex-specific Linkage Scans in Opioid Dependence”, was accepted for publication in Neuropsychiatric Genetics. Other authors include Bao-Zhu Yang, Shizhong Han, Henry Kranzler, Joel Gelernter, and Abraham Palmer.

Dr. Amanda Barkley-Levenson received a F32 Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) for her project, titled “Epistatic Modifiers and Novel Genetic Contributions to Binge-like Drinking and Motivational Effects of Alcohol”. Her grant application received a rare impact score of a perfect 10 during its review, which was very exciting news!

The NIH & NIAAA award these fellowships to support postdoctoral individuals as they train in alcohol-related research.

Congratulations, Amanda!

The article, “Genome-wide Association Study of Loneliness Demonstrates a Role for Common Variation”, was accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of Neuropsychopharmacology. Authors include current and former Palmer Lab members (Jianjun Gao, Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Amy B. Hart, Abraham A. Palmer) as well as collaborators Lea K. Davis, Lide Han, and John T. Cacioppo. Read it here!

The recent Neuron article, “Genetic Background Limits Generalizability of Genotype-Phenotype Relationships”, has garnered considerable attention on various social media outlets! No doubt helped by the accompanying whimsical video abstract, “Should Single Strains Suffice?”, starring Drs. Laura Sittig, Abraham Palmer, and Abe’s 1977 VW van. It’s been retweeted many times and covered by blogs. Altmetric ranks it in the top 5% of all scientific articles, ranked by attention or similar age.

In the above Cell Press video abstract, “Should Single Strains Suffice?”, Drs. Laura Sittig and Abraham Palmer explain what happened when they examined the effects of two genetic mutations on a panel of different mouse strains. Their findings were recently published in Neuron. Featuring Abe’s own restored 1977 VW van!

The article, “Syntax for Calculation of Discounting Indices from the Monetary Choice Questionnaire and Probability Discounting Questionnaire”, was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Other authors include Joshua C. Gray, Michael T. Amlung, Abraham A. Palmer, and James MacKillop.

A recent article by Kelsey Kaustinen in DDNews discusses how novel sequencing methods and unique animal model populations are working together to advance the abilities of genome-wide association studies to pinpoint genetic variants linked to complex traits. The article features Dr. Palmer’s recent GWAS study published in Nature Genetics, where using 1,200 CFW outbred mice and the new genotyping-by-sequencing technique identified genes associated with 66 physical and behavioral traits.

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The article, “Genetic background limits generalizability of genotype-phenotype relationships”, was accepted for publication in Neuron. Authors include Laura Sittig, Peter Carbonetto, Kyle Engel, Kathleen Krauss, Camila Barrios Camacho, and Abraham Palmer. Read the article here!