Helen Willsey, PhD

Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Research Description

The Willsey Lab uses the powerful Xenopus tropicalis (diploid frog) model to translate success in psychiatric disorder genetics into actionable mechanisms of risk and resilience. Our work to date has focused on high-confidence, large-effect risk genes for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), where we have identified a convergent phenotype during forebrain neurogenesis. Specifically, we created half-mutant animals (divided by the midline) by CRISPR/Cas9 targeted injections and observed defects in neural progenitor maturation for the top 10 ASD risk genes. By drug screening, we identified estrogen signaling as a potential resilience factor for multiple different genes. Going forward, we are focusing on how these risk genes affect neurogenesis, how estrogen signaling interacts, and expanding this experimental platform to begin work on other disorders with large-effect risk genes, including Schizophrenia, Tourette Disorder, ADHD, and OCD.

Current Projects
a. Role of autism spectrum disorder risk genes in forebrain neurogenesis
b. Role of estrogen signaling in early brain development by sex
c. Role of schizophrenia risk genes in brain development

Lab Members

Micaela Lasser, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar

Kate McCluskey
Neuroscience Graduate Student

Jean Dea
Staff Research Assistant

Nolan Wong
Staff Research Assistant

Juan Arbelaez
Staff Research Assistant

Ethel Bader
Staff Research Assistant

Erich Martinez
Undergraduate student

Christine Zhao
High school student

 

Lab Website

Publications: