Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
The primary focus of her research is the investigation of the genetic studies of psychiatric illnesses and nicotine and substance dependence, specifically the interplay between nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and other substance dependence, and psychiatric disorders. A recent project is a collaborative multisite study to perform a genome wide association of nicotine dependence using SNPs. This project is being performed in collaboration with Perlegen Sciences, Inc. and will examine 2.2 million SNPs in pooled cases and controls and follow up the most significant 40,000 SNPs with individual genotyping. In addition, 4,000 SNPs in candidate genes will be genotyped.