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PROGRAMMA VISITING PROFESSOR

Nell'ambito del programma Visiting Professor/Scientist 2023/2024, finanziato dalla LR 7/2007 della Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, il Prof. Clement Ching Hinn Zai, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Science, and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and Staff Scientist at the Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, terrà un ciclo di seminari rivolto agli studenti della Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia, ai Dottorandi del Corso di Dottorato in Neuroscienze, agli specializzandi iscritti alle Scuole di Specializzazione in Psichiatria, Neuropsichiatria Infantile, Neurologia e Farmacologia e Tossicologia Clinica e a tutti gli interessati.

I seminari avranno i seguenti titoli:

1) Progress in suicide genetics

che si terrà in Aula C Blocco H-D1 il 16 aprile p.v. con orario 14.30-16.30.

La presentazione di un’ora verrà seguita da un ampio spazio dedicato alle domande e alla discussione.

2) Updates on pharmacogenetics-informed clinical decision making

che si terrà in Aula C Blocco H-D1 il 24 aprile p.v. con orario 12:00-14:00.

La presentazione di un’ora verrà seguita da un ampio spazio dedicato alle domande e alla discussione.

3) Advancements in genetics of Tardive Dyskinesia

che si terrà in Aula C Blocco H-D1 il 6 maggio p.v. ore 12:00-14:00.

La presentazione di un’ora verrà seguita da un ampio spazio dedicato alle domande e alla discussione.

Il Prof. Zai condurrà inoltre due workshop, uno dedicato all’analisi dei dati di genome-wide association, e l’altro ad aspetti di base sul calcolo dei polygenic risk scores che si terranno in Aula 4, Blocco I il 18 aprile 2024 e il 7 maggio entrambi alle ore 14:30.

Per i workshop (numero massimo di partecipanti: 25) verrà inviato a breve un invito con il form per iscriversi.

Di seguito alcune note biografiche del Visiting Professor.

Prof. Clement C. Zai is a Staff Scientist at the Tanenbaum Centre for Pharmacogenetics, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Associated Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Medical Science, and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. He received his HBSc specializing in Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology. His MSc work involved the generation of the conditional transgenic mouse model of colorectal cancer in the Department of Medical Biophysics. He received his PhD in Medical Science at the University of Toronto, examining genes for schizophrenia and tardive dyskinesia. He later received his MPH in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health, where he completed his practicum project on pharmacoepidemiology in relation to self-harm. He studied the genetics of suicide on a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

Prof. Zai’s research focuses on the genetics and pharmacogenetics of psychiatric disorders.  He has authored/co-authored over 220 refereed scientific journal articles. His earlier work supported the role of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) in tardive dyskinesia, an antipsychotic-induced movement side effect. He co-led a paper that demonstrated the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) gene supports the use of VMAT2 inhibitors in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. He recently co-led a paper on a randomized controlled trial that showed the clinical utility of the use of a combinatorial pharmacogenomics panel in major depressive disorder patients. His other research interests include the identification of biomarkers and elucidation of the biological mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment outcomes through genetic analyses. His research approaches include genome-wide association studies, polygenic risk score analyses, meta-analyses, next-generation sequence analyses, and machine learning methods. He has won the prestigious Max Hamilton Prize of the Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum.

Per informazioni:

Prof. Mirko Manchia, mirko.manchia@unica.it

Prof. Alessio Squassina, alessio.squassina@unica.it