Laboratory of Human Genome Variation

    Peristera Paschou, PhD, DABMG

My research interests lie in two main areas: first, using novel methods of large-scale data analysis, I investigate human genomic variation and population genetic relationships around the world, and, second, I study the genetic basis of complex disorders in diverse human populations. I am coordinating the EU funded Marie Curie Initial Training Network, TS-EUROTRAIN,  and I have served as Chair of the European Society for the Study of TS (2011-2014).

During my PhD at the University of Athens I studied the molecular etiology of type 1 diabetes, performing a whole-genome scan on Greek families with two affected sibs. I was a EURODIAB TIGER scholar at the University of Oxford, “Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics”, where I trained in the analysis of data from genomewide linkage and association studies. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University Medical School, together with Prof. Kenneth Kidd, I investigated the patterns of genetic diversity in worldwide human populations and continued to study multifactorial traits, with a special focus on psychiatric disorders and particularly Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (GTS). At Yale University, under the supervision of Allen Bale, I also completed the Clinical Molecular Genetics training program and obtained certification from the American Board of Medical Genetics in 2005. In 2006, I held a visiting position at  UCSF department of Genetics, working with Elad Ziv. In 2011, I was on Sabbatical at the National Institutes of Health (NICHD), where I worked on the analysis of data from whole exome and whole genome sequencing.

Editorial Boards

I am a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Medical Genetics, PLOS ONE and Frontiers in Evolutionary and Population Genetics.