Computational Genomics and Medicine
Research Team
Principal Investigator
Phil H. Lee, M.S., Ph.D.
Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit
Center for Human Genetic Research
Richard B. Simches Research Center
185 Cambridge Street
Boston MA 02114
Phone: +1-617-643-9304
B.S. in Computer Science and Statistics
Seoul National University, South Korea
M.Sc. in Bioinformatics
Korea Advance Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea
Ph.D. in Computational Biology and Machine Learning
I am a computational geneticist investigating the genetic basis of complex human traits and disorders through developing and applying effective analytic strategies. While the methods and study designs I developed have been used in the studies of diverse complex traits, my research program over the past six years has focused primarily on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. My long-term research goal is to build a computational genomics program that would spearhead translational research in medicine: helping to define biomarkers, illuminate diagnostic boundaries, and accelerate development of personalized interventions and treatment strategies.
Queen's University, Canada
Advisor: Hagit Shatkay, Ph.D.
Postdoctral Fellowship Training in Psychiatric Statistical Genetics
Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, USA
Assistant Professor in Psychiatry
Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, USA
Affiliated Research Fellow
Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA
Research Students
Yanela is a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; pursuing her masters in Mind, Brain, and Education. Before starting her masters she received a B.S in Behavioral Neuroscience in Lehigh University.
Yanela is interested in the role that environmental and genetic factors play in the neural and cognitive development of children, as well as how these factors are evaluated and translated into viable interventions; especially within low income populations.
Lab Projects:
- Deciphering the genetic architecture of autism: converging biology but complex pleiotropy
Yanela Cruz
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Cambridge, MA 02138
Marie, a graduate student at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Biostatistics. She received her undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and has worked at the Abbott Pharmacology Laboratory at UC Irvine.
Marie’s current interest lies in mental illness in the post-crisis humanitarian setting, with a population-level focus on how crises affect those genetically predisposed to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Specifically, she is interested in how psychiatric interventions can be changed and targeted with a better understanding of the genetic factors of mental illness.
Lab Project:
- Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders: extensive heterogeneity
Marie Anand
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, MA 02115
Christian is an undergraduate student at Harvard College studying Human Evolutionary Biology.
He is interested in studying regulatory elements controlling gene expression.
Lab Project:
- In-silico prioritization of non-coding regulatory variants
- Practical guides to the studies of de novo mutations using whole genome sequencing data
Christian Lee
Harvard College
Cambridge, MA 02138
Zhaozhong is a fifth year doctoral student studying in environmental genetics at Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health. Before he came to Harvard, he received bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
Zhaozhong's doctoral thesis is about identifying microRNA classifiers from a high-throughput microRNA expression data using statistical genetics simulation methods. His research interest also includes the shared effect of genetic components for mental illnesses, such as autism and schizophrenia, and transforming the research findings into community prevention and clinical intervention.
Lab Project:
- Cross phenotype analysis to decipher the shared genetic architecture of complex traits: critical evaluation of statistical methods and study designs
Zhaozhong Zhu
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, MA 02115
Boston, MA 02115
Tushar Dwivedi
Harvard College
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tushar is an undergraduate student at Harvard College studying Applied Mathematics.
Tushar is interested in the dysregulation of gene expression in the context of various mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and depression. More specifically, he enjoys exploring the use of modern genetic variant analysis techniques in investigating the underpinnings of such disorders in an effort to extend and improve our current understanding of them.
Lab Project:
- Brain-specific super enhancers and their role in early neurodevelopmental disorders