Joel Leal joined the Palmer Lab in March 2020 as a Postdoctoral scholar. He graduated from the University of Florida with a PhD in Animal Sciences and a major in Genetics. He has performed high density association analysis, RNAseq studies, eQTL and sQTL mapping, and incorporated SEM analysis to QTL mapping for complex phenotypes. He aspires to continue performing research on animal genetics with a focus on uncovering the genetic architecture of complex phenotypes. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, cycling and drawing. Welcome, Joel!

Dr. Abraham Palmer has been selected by the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society as the recipient of the 2020 IBANGS Distinguished Investigator Award. “The Distinguished Investigator Award honors a scientist who is 7 or more years post first faculty or faculty-equivalent appointment, and whose area of research is in behavioural and neural genetics.” Congratulations, Abe!

The article, “Emerging phenotyping strategies to advance our understanding of psychiatric genetics,” has been accepted for publication in Nature Neuroscience. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Sandra Sanchez-Roige are co-authors.

The book chapter, “Steep Discounting of Future Rewards as an Impulsivity Phenotype: A Concise Review,” has been accepted for publication. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Sandra Sanchez-Roige are co-authors along with Emily Levitt and James MacKillop.

The full citation is as follows:

Levitt:, E., Sanchez-Roige, S., Palmer, A., & MacKillop, J. (in press). Steep discounting of future rewards as an impulsivity phenotype: a concise review. In H. deWit & D. Jentsch (Eds.) Recent Advances in Research on Impulsivity and Impulsive Behaviors and Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Springer: New York.

The article, “Genome-wide association study in two cohorts from a multi-generational mouse advanced intercross line highlights the difficulty of replication due to study-specific heterogeneity,” has been accepted for publication in G3. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Riyan Cheng, and Xinzhu Zhou and Apurva Chitre are co-authors along with Celine St. Pierre, Natalia Gonzales, Jennifer Zou, and Greta Sokoloff.

The article, “Shared Genetic Risk between Eating Disorder- and Substance-Use-Related Phenotypes: Evidence from Genome-Wide Association Studies,” has been accepted for publication in Addiction Biology. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Sandra Sanchez Roige are co-authors along with Dr. Melissa Munn-Chernoff.

Dr. Abraham Palmer has been named a Fellow (i.e., senior or honorary member) in two professional organizations: the American College of Neurpsychopharmacology (ACNP) and the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS). Congratulations, Abe!

Dr. Amanda Barkley-Levenson has been promoted to Assistant Project Scientist. The appointment began on December 1st. Congratulations, Amanda!

The article, “Polygenic contributions to alcohol use and alcohol use disorders across population-based and clinically ascertained samples,” has been accepted for publication in Psychological Medicine. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Sandra Sanchez Roige are co-authors along with Emma Johnson, Laura Acion, Kathleen Bucholz, Grace Chan, Michael Chao, David Chorlian, Danielle Dick, Howard Edenberg, Tatiana Foroud, Victor Hesselbrock, Sivan Kinreich, John Kramer, I C Kuo, Samuel Kuperman, Dongbing Lai, Jacquelyn Meyers, Martin Henry Plawecki, Bernice Porjesz, Marc Schuckit, Jinni Su, Yong Zhang, Mark James Adams, Caroline Hayward, Jon Heron, Matthew Hickman, Kenneth

Khai Nguyen joined the Palmer Lab in December 2019 as a laboratory assistant. He graduated from UCI with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. He enjoys the research aspect of genetics in medicine and wishes to enter the medical field in the future. He likes adventuring, cycling, hiking, and road trips.

Welcome, Khai!