| | Staff Scientists and Clinicians
| Bhaskar S. Kolachana, Ph.D. |
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Dr. Kolachana received his Ph.D. (Life Sciences-Animal Sciences) in 1987 from Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, India. Dr. Kolachana’s post-doctoral work began in Dr. Daniel Weinberger's Clinical Brain
Disorders Branch at the NIMH, focused on validating the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia
in a non-human primate model. To test this hypothesis, he developed in-vivo cerebral microdialysis
methodology to study prefrontal cortical regulation of subcortical dopamine systems in awake behaving and
sedate Rhesus monkey brain. Dr. Kolachana joined the Section for Clinical Studies of the CBDB in 1999 as
a Staff Scientist under Title 42 authority. He initiated and undertook the earlier studies on genetic
mechanisms of COMT, 5-HTT, BDNF and risk for schizophrenia and traits that are associated with other
psychiatric conditions. He was a co-investigator in several land-mark discoveries from the Clinical Brain
Disorders Branch of the Genes, Cognition and Psychosis Program. |
| Research Interests |
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Dr. Kolachana is currently investigating single nucleotide polymorphisms and other genomic variations in
genes thought to be associated with putative traits and to the diagnosis of schizophrenia. He is also seeking
to identify susceptibility alleles and loci that might code for heightened risk of anxiety, fear and other
emotional traits associated with complex psychiatric disorders. He co-authored several publications of
genetic discoveries related to mental illness and human brain information processing. |
| Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Pezawas, L, Verchinski, BA, Mattay, VS, Callicott, JH,
Kolachana, BS; Straub, RE, Egan, MF, Meyer-Lindenberg, A, Weinberger*, DR:
The BDNF val66met polymorphism and variation in Human Cortical morphology.
J. Neuroscience, 24: 10099-100102, 2004.
- Chen, J; Lipska, B;, Halim, N; Ma, QD; Matsumoto, M; Melhem S; Kolachana,
BS; Hyde, TM; Herman, MM; Apud, J; Egan, MF; Kleinman, JE; Weinberger, DR:
Functional analysis of genetic variation in Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT): Effects on mRNA,
protein, and enzyme activity in postmortem human brain. Amer J Hum Genetics, 75: 807-821, 2004.
- Mattay, VS; Goldberg, TE; Fera, F; Hariri, A; Tessitore, A; Egan,
MF; Kolachana, BS; Callicott, JH and Weinberger, DR
Catechol-O-MethylTransferase val158-met genotype and individual variation in the brain response to
amphetamine. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 100: 6186-6191, 2003.
- Akil, A; Kolachana, BS; Rothmond, DA; Hyde, TM; Weinberger, DR
Catechol-Omethyltransferase genotype and dopamine regulation in the human brain.
J. Neuroscience, 23: 2008-2013, 2003.
- Egan, MF; Kojima, M; Callicott, JH; Goldberg, TE; Kolachana,
BS; Bertolino, A; Zaitsev, E; Gold, B; Goldman, D; Dean, M; Lu, B and Weinberger, DR
The BDNF val66met polymorphism affects activity-dependent secretion of BDNF and human memory and
hippocampal function. Cell, 112: 257-269, 2003.
- Hariri, AR; Mattay, VS; Tessitore, A; Kolachana, BS; Fera,
F; Egan, MF; Goldman, D; Weinberger, DR: Transporter genetic variation and the response of the human amygdala.
Science, 297: 400-403, 2002.
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Address:
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Genes,
Cogniton and Psychosis Program,
Section for Clinical Studies,
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch
4N 312, Bldg. 10 Rm 4N312
Bethesda, MD 20892 |
| Phone: |
301-402-2823 |
| Email
Dr, Kolachana |
| Fax: |
301-402-2751 |
| Lab Web Site: |
http://cbdb.nimh.nih.gov/ |
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