Prabhakara V. Choudary, Ph.D.

Genetic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases

Research Summary

Dr. Choudary’s research is aimed at gaining insights into the genetic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases using experimental tools drawn from biochemistry, cell biology, molecular genetics and genomics. It focuses on identifying structural/functional variations in independently replicated candidate genes in the CNS disorders: schizophrenia, mood disorders, and Parkinson’s disease. The objective is to develop minimally invasive biomarker assays that would facilitate early detection of the disease. Requiring only a small sample of blood or saliva from the patient, the principle and methodology of such assays have the potential to impact the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of common/complex disorders. Dr. Choudary’s honors include Rockefeller Biotechnology Career Fellowship, Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Lectureship, Rolex Award for Enterprise, and election to the Fellowships of the Washington Academy of Sciences, AAAS, and Royal Society of Chemistry. He has co-authored 80 papers and 40 patents.

Selected Publications

• Tomita H, Ziegler ME, Kim HB, Evans SJ, Choudary PV, Li JZ, Meng F, Dai M, Myers RM, Neal CR, Speed TP, Barchas JD, Schatzberg AF, Watson SJ, Akil H, Jones EG, Bunney WE, Vawter MP. G protein-linked signaling pathways in bipolar and major depressive disorders. Front Genet. 4:297, 2013, PMID: 24391664
• Li JZ, Bunney BG, Meng F, Hagenauer MH, Walsh DM, Vawter MP, Evans SJ, Choudary PV, Cartagena P, Barchas JD, Schatzberg AF, Jones EG, Myers RM, Watson SJ Jr, Akil H, Bunney WE. Circadian patterns of gene expression in the human brain and disruption in major depressive disorder. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110(24):9950-5, 2013, PMID: 23671070.
• Li JZ, Meng F, Tsavaler L, Evans SJ, Choudary PV, Tomita H, Vawter MP, Walsh D, Shokoohi V, Chung T, Bunney WE, Jones EG, Akil H, Watson SJ, Myers RM. Sample matching by inferred agonal stress in gene expression analyses of the brain. BMC Genomics. 8:336, 2007, PMID: 17892578.
• Choudary PV. Power troubles in Parkinson's disease. Commentary. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2011 Mar;10(2):146.
• Choudary PV, J Knowles. Genetics. In: American Psychiatric Publishing Text Book of Psychiatry (Eds. Robert E Hales, Stuart C. Yudofsky, and Glen O. Gabbard), 199-251, 2008.
• Murray KD, PV Choudary, EG Jones. Nuc1eus- and cell-specific gene expression in monkey thalamus. Proc NatI Acad Sci USA 104:1989-1994, 2007, PMID: 17261798.
• Vawter MP, H Tomita, F Meng, B Bolstad, JZ Li, SJ Evans, PV Choudary, ME Atz, L Shao, CR Neal, DM Walsh, TP Speed, RM Myers, EG Jones, SJ Watson, H Akil, WE Bunney Jr. Mitochondrial related genes are sensitive to agonal-pH state: implications for brain disorders. Mol Psychiatry 11:615; 663-679, 2006, PMID: 16636682.
• Karssen AM, JZ Li, S Her, PD Patel, F Meng, SJ Evans, MP Vawter, H Tomita, PV Choudary, WE Bunney Jr, EG Jones, SJ Watson, H Akil, RM Myers, AF Schatzberg, DM Lyons. Application of micro array technology in primate behavioral neuroscience research. Methods 38:227-234, 2006, PMID: 16469505.
• Choudary PV, M Molnar, SJ Evans, H Tomita, JZ Li, MP Vawter, RM Myers, WE Bunney Jr, H Akil, SJ Watson, EG Jones. Altered cortical glutamatergic and GABAergic signal transmission and glial involvement in major depression. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:15653-15658, 2005, PMID: 16230605.
• Li JZ, MP Vawter, DM Walsh, H Tomita, SJ Evans, PV Choudary, JF Lopez, A Avelar, V Shokoohi, T Chung, 0 Mesarwi, EG Jones, SJ Watson, H Akil, WE Bunney Jr, RM Myers. Systematic changes in gene expression in postmortem human brains associated with tissue pH and terminal medical conditions. Human Mol Genetics13:609-616, 2004, PMID: 14734628. [see "news and views in brief," Nature 427: 501, 2004]
• Evans SJ, PV Choudary, CR Neal, JZ Li, MP Vawter, H Tomita, JF Lopez, RC Thompson, F Meng, JD Stead, DM Walsh, RM Myers, WE Bunney Jr, SJ Watson, EG Jones, H Akil. Dysregulation of the fibroblast growth factor system in major depression. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:15506-15511, 2004, PMID: 15483108. [see "research highlights," Nature 431: 1051, 2004]
• Tomita H, MP Vawter, DM Walsh, SJ Evans, PV Choudary, JZ Li, KM Overman, ME Atz, RM Myers, EG Jones, SJ Watson, H Akil, WE Bunney Jr. Effect of agonal and postmortem factors on gene expression profile: quality control in microarray analyses of postmortem human brain. Bioi Psychiatry 55: 346-352, 2004, PMID: 14960286.
• WE Bunney Jr, BG Bunney, MP Vawter, H Tomita, J Li, SJ Evans, PV Choudary, RM Myers, EG Jones, SJ Watson, H Akil. Microarray technology: a review of new strategies to discover candidate vulnerability genes in psychiatric disorders. Am J Psychiatry 160: 657-666,251, 2003, PMID: 1266835l.
• Evans SJ, PV Choudary, MP Vawter, J Li, JH Meador-Woodruff, SM Burke, RC Thompson, RM Myers, EG Jones, WE Bunney, SJ Watson, H Akil. DNA microarray analysis of functionally discrete human brain regions reveals divergent transcriptional profiles. Neurobiol Disease 14: 240-250, 2003, PMID: 14572446.