Dr. Vandenbergh – Molecular Genetics Lab

We are interested in individual differences in processes of reward, reinforcement, and withdrawal, and there is plenty of work to do. For example, smoking tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and smoking is just one of the many behaviors that lead to addiction and wide array of health problems. Our laboratory’s research addresses how genetic variation contributes to addictive behaviors. We are using two approaches to address this problem:

First, we are using data sets that combine genotypes with traits/phenotypes related to drug use and addiction to identify which genotypes contribute to the traits. We are developing methods of selecting groups of genes to create “gene scores” to test for association with the traits. Gene scores are an intermediate level between testing one gene at a time and testing all genes in a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS). This approach involves computational methods of analysis of the data sets. Students with interest in bioinformatics and statistical genetics might find this work attractive as a research project.

Second, we are interested in identifying new genetic variants in the Dopamine Transporter gene (SLC6A3). We feel that variants that are not yet identified might contribute significantly to the genetic variance that is not captured with Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that are the most commonly used in current high-throughput methods. This unmeasured variance is known as the “missing heritability” problem (Manolio et al., Nature, 2009) and we propose that careful examination of DNA using both older, under-utilized methods, and newer ones, will help find what is missing. Students interested in lab bench work in combination with bioinformatics might want to work on this problem.

There are three broad areas to which our work applies:

Complex Genetics – Individual Differences in risk of addiction are clearly not caused by variants of a single gene. There are many genes involved in addiction, which requires complex analysis to assess their effects.

Epigenetics – One mechanism by which individual differences in addiction might arise through modification of DNA without changing the base sequence.

Gene-Environment Interactions – A particular DNA sequence, or epigenetic modification, might alter risk of addiction only if combined with a specific environment.

Further information about Dr. Vandenbergh can be found at his departmental home page here

Other programs Dr. Vandenbergh is affiliated with:

Contact Info:

Office: 258A Health & Hum Dev Building, University Park PA 16802 Tel: 814-863-8430

Lab: 255 & 257 Health & Hum Dev Building, University Park PA     Tel: 814-863-1325