Emily Olfson
Yale University, CT·Genetics·Early-career
Some people repeatedly pull out their hair (trichotillomania) or pick their skin (excoriation disorder) to the point of real harm. These body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) belong to the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum and are disabling and hard to treat, with no first-line medications.
- Fields
Genetics
Medicine & Clinical Research
Neuroscience
- Topics
trichotillomania
hair pulling
excoriation disorder
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Compare rates of de novo and rare inherited mutations between body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) and control families, using whole-exome sequencing of 200 parent-child trios.
- Test for genetic risk shared across the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum by comparing BFRB trio variants with 400 previously sequenced OCD trios, and map hits onto pathways, gene networks and expression patterns.
- Conduct the first genome-wide study of copy-number variants (CNVs), deleted or duplicated DNA segments, in BFRB trios, and integrate CNVs with sequencing results in systems analyses.
- Compare neural differentiation and single-cell RNA sequencing profiles of brain organoids grown from induced pluripotent stem cells of 4 patients and their unaffected same-sex first-degree relatives.
More about the research
Earlier work suggests shared genetic factors contribute, but the specific risk genes and biological pathways remain largely unknown. Finding them is an important step toward better treatments.
Why it matters
People with trichotillomania and excoriation disorder have few effective treatments and no first-line medication. Identifying the genes and neurodevelopmental pathways behind these conditions could reveal new treatment targets and, over time, help reduce the burden of these disorders for patients and families.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Daniel Foster
University of South Carolina-Columbia, SC·Neuroscience
Test whether M4 PAMs, drugs that boost the M4 acetylcholine receptor, reduce repetitive over-grooming in SAPAP3 knockout mice and other mouse models of repetitive behavior.
Erin Peckham-Gregory
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Genetics
Analyze germline whole-genome sequencing data from 191 LCH case-parent trios in the Gabriella Miller Kids First program to define inheritance patterns and the role of de novo mutations in LCH risk.
Raquel Gur
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Track psychiatric symptoms and neurocognition over time in about 300 adolescents and young adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, using dimensional measures with a focus on the emergence of psychosis.
The school
Yale University: 73 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 438 research doctorates a year.
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