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Faculty
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Kenneth Seedman Kendler
Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry
Professor of Human Genetics
Director, Psychiatric Genetics Research Program
Director, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics
Tel: 804 828 8590
Fax: 804 828 1471
| Email:
kendler@hsc.vcu.edu
| P.O. Box:
980126
| VIPBG
Biotech 1-123
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The major focus of my research is in the genetics of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. Two major methodologies are used in this research. The first
involves large population based twin samples. In these twins, we address the aggregate role of genetic and environmental factors. We seek to understand how
these factors interact and correlate, and how, through development, the vulnerability to psychiatric illness and drug abuse is expressed. I have focused my
work with twin samples from Virginia - in particular the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders - but also worked with
twin samples from Norway, Sweden and Holland. My work has focused on a wide range of disorders including major depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders,
externalizing behaviors, alcoholism, and drug abuse. I have worked a lot toward understanding the genetic and environmental sources of comorbidity of
psychiatric and substance use disorders. My work has recently focused on developmental models and models examining the structure of genetic and environmental
risk factors for DSM disorders examined at the criteria level.
The second major research strategy that I work with is molecular genetics. I am closely involved in molecular genetics studies of schizophrenia,
alcoholism, major depression and nicotine dependence. We have used the strategies of linkage analysis, candidate gene association analysis, but most of the
current focus now is on genome wide association. I have recently been especially interested in polygene models as applied to GWAS data.
Two other active areas of interest are psychiatric nosology. I have been heavily involved in the developments of DSM-III-R and DSM-IV and am now deeply
involved in the various aspects of the development of DSM-V. Finally, I have a developed interest in the interface between Psychiatry, Neuroscience and
Philosophy with several paper-writing projects on-going.
Curriculum Vitae
Download CV [pdf]
Education
- 1972: BA Biology & Religion, University of California, Santa Cruz
- 1977: MD Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
- 1980: Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
- 1983: Biometrical Genetics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Professional Experience
- 1980-1983: Assistant Professor, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Dept. Of Psychiatry, New York, NY
- 1981-1983: Research Associate, Bronx VA Medical center, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, New York
- 1983-1987: Associate Professor, Depts. Of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University (MCV/VCU) Richmond, VA
- 1987-present: Professor, Depts. Of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, MCV/VCU
- 1991-present: Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, MCV/VCU
- 1996-present: Director, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, VCU (with L.J. Eaves)
Honors
- 1978-1980: Biological Scientist Training Program Fellow, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
- 1981-1983: Research Associate Award, Veteran's Administration
- 1984-1987: Member, American Psychiatric Association Work Group to Revise DSM-III
- 1987-1990: Member, Epidemiologic and Services Research Review Committee, NIMH
- 1988-: Member, American Psychiatric Association Task Force on DSM-IV
- 1991-: Rachel Brown Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry
- 1994: VCU Distinguised Faculty Award for Scholarship
- 1995-: Member, Scientific Council, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
- 1995: Lieber Prize for Outstanding Research in Schizophrenia (NARSAD)
- 1996-: Member, National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program Planning Committee
- 1996: Editorial Boards of Archives of General Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, and Psychological Medicine
- 1997: First Prize, Anna-Monika-Foundation, for outstanding contributions to research on depression
- 1998: Stanley R. Dean Award, Am Coll Psychiatry, for exceptional scientific achievement in schizophrenia
- 1998: Kurt Schneider Scientific Award for exceptional scientific achievement in schizophrenia
- 1999: Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Birmingham, Birmingham England
- 1999: Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science
- 1999: Templeton Foundation for Outstanding Paper Award in Humility Theology in the category of Religion and the Medical Sciences
- 2000: Science Watch: 2nd most frequently cited author of high-impact papers in psychiatry, 1990-98
- 2000: Edward Strecker Award for outstanding contributions to psychiatric care and treatment
- 2001: Fundacion Castillo del Pino Award for outstanding achievement in psychiatry
- 2001: Edward J. Sachar Award for outstanding contributions to psychiatric research
- 2001: Thomas Salmon Lecturer Award for distinguished service in psychiatry
- 2002: Rema Lapouse Award – Significant contributions to the scientific understanding of epidemiology and control of mental disorders, American Public Health Association
- 2002: Philip R.A. May Memorial Lectureship for Distinguished Service in Psychiatry - UCLA
- 2002: Elected a Distinguished Fellow in Recognition of Significant Contributions to Psychiatry – American Psychiatric Association
- 2003: Erik Stromgren Medal and Memorial Lectureship, Erik Stromgren Foundation
- 2003: First Michael Rutter Lecture at Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London
- 2003-2004: Fritz Redlich Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Funded Research
- 5R37AA011408: An Alcohol Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence [97-12] PI: Kenneth Kendler
- 4R37DA018673: Psychometric and Genetic Assessments of Substance Use [04-14] PI: Michael Neale
- 5K01DA019498: Genetics of Nicotine and Other Abused Substances [06-11] PI: Sam Chen
- 5R01MH083094: A Genome-wide Association Study of Schizophrenia in Ireland [08-12] PI: Brien Riley
- 5K01MH080953: Genetic and Pathophysiologic Investigation of Panic Disorder Typologies [08-13] PI: Roxann Roberson-Nay
- 3R21DA027070: Variants in Chrna5/Chrna3/Chrnb4 and Nicotine Dependence [09-11] PI: Sam Chen
- 3R03DA027619: Variants in Nicotine Receptors and Pharmacogenetics [09-11] PI: Sam Chen
- 5P30AA019372: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Genetics of Alcohol-related Behaviors [09-11] PI: Kenneth Kendler
- 1P20AA017828: Project 2: Cross Species Characterization of Gene Networks in Acute Responses [10-11] PI: Brien Riley
- 5K99DA023549: Genetic & Environmental Pathways to Drug Use, Abuse & Dependence [10-13] PI: Nathan Gillespie
- 5R01MH087646: The Role of Genes and Environment in Anxiety Spectrum Disorders [10-14] PI: John Hettema
- 5R01DA025109: Developmental Genetic Epidemiology of Smoking [10-15] PI: Hermine Maes
- 5R01AA018333: Pathways to Alcohol Use Disorders in ALSPAC: A Genetic-Developmental Study [10-15] PI: Danielle Dick & $ Kenneth Kendler
Research Interests
- Psychiatric Genetics
- Genetic Epidemiology
- Schizophrenia
- Twin Studies
- Nosology of psychiatric disorders
Selected Publications
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Virginia Commonwealth University | School of Medicine | Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics
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