Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics
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Xiangning (Sam) Chen
Assistant Professor
Departments of Psychiatry and Human Genetics
Tel: 804 828 8124
Fax: 804 828 3223
| Email:
xichen@hsc.vcu.edu
| P.O. Box:
980424
| VCU
Biotech I-111
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Education
- 1982: BA, Agronomy, Guangxi Agricultural Institute, China
- 1986: MS, Genetics, Academia Sinica, China
- 1994: PhD, Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Professional Experience
- 1986-1988: Research associate at Genetic Institute, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China
- 1993-1994: Research scientist at Agis Pharmaceutical, Inc., Houston, Texas
- 1994-1997: Post doctoral fellow, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- 1997-1999: Research Instructor, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
- 1999-2000: Scientist, project leader, Cereon Genomics, LLC, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 2000-2001: Senior scientist, Curagen Corporation, New Haven, Conneticut
- 2001-present, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, VCU, Richmond, Virginia
Honors
- 1996-1998: National research service awards (NRSA) from National Institute of Health (1-F32-HG00156-01)
Funded Research
- R01 AA11408 Prescott (2002-2006) Co-I, NIH/NIMH/NIAAA: An Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence
- R01 MH41953 Kendler (1999-2004) Co-I, NIH/NIMH: The Genetic Epidemiology of Schizophrenia in Ireland
- VTSF #8520012 Kendler (2001-2004) Co-I, Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation: Candidate Genes for Nicotine Dependence in Humans
Research Interests
Genetic variations among individuals are the fundamental elements that make each of us unique and different. There are many kinds of genetic variations in human genome, of them single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is the most common one, and it is thought to be responsible for many complex diseases and disorders such as cancers, obesity, cardiovascular diseases as well as
psychiatric and behavioral disorders. My research mainly focuses on the characterization and study of these variations and their impacts on our health. Specifically, these are the areas we
currently focus on
- Characterize and construct SNP haplotype maps for some chromosomal regions that have been implicated to harbor genes contributing to the susceptibility of schizophrenia, nicotine
dependence, major depression and other complex diseases. Complex diseases involve multiple genes, and for a given gene multiple variations may be responsible. Since genes are transcribed from
a single strand of DNA, the variations occur on the same strand (a haplotype) are most likely contributing to the functions of the genes. Constructing SNP haplotype map for genes involved in a
disease would help identifying the specific form of the genes that contributes to the disease. We plan to use cell culture and fusion to create chromosome specific haploid hybrid cell lines
and to obtain SNP haplotypes from these cell lines by direct SNP genotyping.
- Develop new technologies for mutation detection and high throughput genotyping. Linkage disequilibrium/association study of complex traits requires high density of genetic markers and high
throughput genotyping. The cost and throughput of current genotyping technologies are critical limitations for such studies. We devised new strategies and protocols to take advantage of high
capacity DNA sequencers to SNP genotyping. The goals are to reduce the cost to < $0.10/genotype and to increase throughput to > 100,000 genotypes/day.
- Identify genes susceptible to
schizophrenia. Under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Kendler our group has collected Irish families of high density schizophrenia and identified several chromosomal regions that harbor genes
susceptible to the disorder. Now we approach these regions by haplotype map, association studies, bioinformatics and functional genomics.
Selected Publications
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| Date last modified: September 2006
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