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Research Focus

Molecular Mechanisms of Human CNS Disorders

Work in our laboratory is directed towards identifying genes associated with human neurological disorders and pharmacotherapies associated with these disorders using high-throughput gene expression methodologies. Two main areas of research focus on Huntington's disease (HD) and schizophrenia. In our HD studies, we are focusing on a subset of genes that exhibit restricted expression in the striatum, the region of the brain most affected in HD. Furthermore, we are investigating how the mutated huntingtin protein causes specific neurodegeneration of the striatum, by identifying which striatum-enriched proteins interact with the huntingtin protein, the protein product of the Huntington gene. We are also studying genes that are abnormally expressed in human post-mortem samples from subjects with schizophrenia throughout the course of illness. We have identified dramatically different gene expression profiles of subjects in early versus late stages of illness and are further characterizing pathways associated with these different stages. The goals of these studies are to achieve a better understanding of dysfunctional systems in CNS disorders and to provide a basis for new therapeutic approaches and disease prevention.

Education

B.A., Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 1989
Ph.D., Pharmacology, University of California, Irvine, 1994

Professional Experience

2009-present  Associate Professor, The Scripps Research Institute                                                   
2006-present  Honorary Senior Research Fellow, The Mental Health Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia                                                        
2002-2009  Assistant Professor, The Scripps Research Institute                                                    
1998-2002  Senior Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute                                    
1995-1998  Post-Doctoral Fellow, The Scripps Research Institute                                                  

Awards & Professional Activities

1992/1993 Henry Wood Elliot Memorial Award/Scholarship, The Univ. of California
1992-1994 PMAF Advanced Pre-doctoral Fellowship
1997-1999 NARSAD Young Investigator Fellowship
2001 Young Investigator Award, American Society for Neurochemistry
2002 The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Young Investigator

Selected References

Thomas, E.A., Coppola, G., Tang, B., Kuhn, A., Kim, S., Geschwind, D.H., Brown, T.B., Luthi-Carter, R.,. Ehrlich, M.E. In Vivo Cell-autonomous Transcriptional Abnormalities Revealed in Mice Expressing Forebrain Striatal-restricted Mutant Huntingtin. Human Molecular Genetics, 2010 Dec. 20. * this article was featured on the cover.

Ku, S., Soragni, E., Campau, E., Thomas, E.A., Altun, G., Laurent, L.C., Loring, J.F., Napierala, M., Gottesfeld, J.M. Friedreich's Ataxia Induced Pluripotent Stem cells Model Intergenerational GAA*TTC Triplet-Repeat Instability. Cell Stem Cell 7(5):631-7 (2010).

Torkamani, A., Dean, B., Schork, N.J., Thomas, E.A.  Co-Expression Network Analysis of Neural Tissue Reveals Perturbations in Developmental Processes in Schizophrenia.  Genome Research, 20:403-12 (2010).  * this article was featured on the cover.

Tang, B., Chang, W., Lanigan, C.M., Dean, B., Sutcliffe J.G., Thomas, E.A. Normal Human Aging and Early-Stage Schizophrenia Share Common Molecular Profiles. Aging Cell 8:339-42 (2009).

Thomas, E.A., Coppola, G., Desplats, P.A. Tang, B., Soragni, E. Burnett, R., Gao, F., Fitzgerald, K.M., Borok, J.F., Herman, D., Geschwind, D. H., Gottesfeld, J.M. The Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, HDACi 4b, Ameliorates the Disease Phenotype and Transcriptional Abnormalities in Huntington's Disease Transgenic Mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105:15564-9 (2008).

Links

Team Reverses Huntington's Disease Symptoms in Mice

Scientists Identify Age-Associated Defects in Schizophrenia

Molecules on the Mind