Phs 398 (rev. 9/04), biographical sketch format page

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors in the order listed on Form Page 2. Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
Professor of Psychiatry and Human Genetics eRA COMMONS USER NAME vishwajitnl EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.) American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology A. Positions and Honors.

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:
1981-1984 Rhodes Scholar/Research Student, MRC Unit and Department of Clinical Pharmacology,
Registrar (Resident in Psychiatry), Maudsley Hospital, London, UK. 1988-1991 Resident in Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. 1991- Assistant (1991-1997), Associate (1997-2002) and Professor of Psychiatry (2002- ), University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine (tenure 1999). Assistant (1995-1998), Associate (1998-2002) and Professor of Human Genetics (2002-), University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. HONORS:
1981 Rhodes
Senior Research Fellowship, Indian Council of Medical Research. Best Outgoing Clinical Student, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. Sir Dennis Hill Prize for Best Psychiatric Resident, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. Editorial Board, Bipolar Disorder Harry Levin Award for Clinical Excellence (Western Psychiatric Inst & Clinic, Pittsburgh). Outstanding Mentorship Award, Dept of Psychiatry, Univ. Pittsburgh School of Medicine Mentor award, Medical Scientist Training Program, Univ Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon University Editorial Board, Neuropsychiatric Genetics (American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B).
SELECTED PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS: (Peer reviewed: 106, Total: 186)
1. Chandy KG, Fantino E, Tong L, Kalman K, Gutman GA, Crocq M-A, Ganguli R, Nimgaonkar VL, Morris-
Rosendahl D, Gargus JJ (1998) hSKCa3, a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 3, 32-37. 2. Nimgaonkar VL, Fujiwara TM, Dutta M, Wood J, Gentry K, Maendel S, Morgan K, Eaton JW (2000). Low
prevalence of psychoses among the Hutterites, an isolated religious community. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157 (7): 1065 – 1070. 3. Chowdari KV, Wood J, Ganguli R, Gottesman II, Nimgaonkar VL (2000). Lack of association between
schizophrenia and a CAG repeat polymorphism of the hSKCa3 gene in a North Eastern US sample. Molecular Psychiatry, 5(3): 237-238. 4. Semwal P, Prasad S, Bhatia T, Deshpande SN, Wood J, Nimgaonkar VL, Thelma BK (2001). Family
based association studies of monoaminergic gene polymorphisms among North Indians with schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 6:220-224. 5. Chowdari KV, Mirnics K, Semwal P, Wood J, Lawrence E, Bhatia T, Deshpande SN, Thelma B. K, Ferrell RE, Middleton FA, Devlin B, Levitt P, Lewis DA, Nimgaonkar VL (2002). Association and linkage
analyses of RGS4 polymorphisms in schizophrenia. Human Molecular Genetics 11:1373-1380.
6. Williams NM, Norton N, Williams H, Ekholm B, Hamshere ML, Lindblom Y, Chowdari KV, Cardno AG, Zammit S, Jones LA, Murphy KC, Sanders RD, McCarthy G, Gray MY, Jones G, Holmans P, Nimgaonkar
V L, Adolfson R, Osby U , Terenius L, Sedvall G, O’Donovan M C, Owen M J (2003). A Systematic
Genome-wide Linkage Study in 353 Sib Pairs with Schizophrenia. American Journal of Human Genetics.
73: 1355-1367.
7. Bhatia T, Franzos, M A, Wood J A, Nimgaonkar V L, Deshpande S N (2004). Gender and procreation
among patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 68:387-394. 8. McQueen MB, Devlin B, Faraone SV, Nimgaonkar VL, et al (53 authors) (2005). Combined analysis from
eleven linkage studies of bipolar disorder provides strong evidence for susceptibility loci on chromosomes 6q and 8 q. American Journal of Human Genetics 77: 582-595. 9. Mansour HA, (26 authors), Nimgaonkar VL (2005). Serotonin gene polymorphisms and bipolar 1 disorder:
focus on the serotonin transporter. Annals of Medicine; 37 (8): 1-13. 10. Mansour HA, Wood J, Logue T, Chowdari KV, Dayal M, Kupfer DJ, Monk TH, Devlin B, Nimgaonkar VL
(2006). Association study of eight circadian genes with bipolar I disorder, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia. Genes, Brain & Behavior 5:150-157. 11. Talkowski ME, et al (35 authors) Nimgaonkar VL (2006). Evaluation of a susceptibility gene for
schizophrenia: genotype based meta-analysis of RGS4 polymorphisms from thirteen independent samples. Biological Psychiatry 60(2):152-162. 12. Talkowski ME, Mansour H, Chowdari KV, Wood J. Butler A, Varma PG, Prasad S, Semwal P, Bhatia T, Deshpande S, Devlin B, Thelma B K, Nimgaonkar VL (2006). Novel, replicated associations between
dopamine D3 receptor gene polymorphisms and schizophrenia in two independent samples Biological
Psychiatry 60(6)570-577.
13. Shirts BH, Bamne M, Kim JJ, Talkowski M, Wood J, Yolken R, Nimgaonkar VL (2006). A comprehensive
genetic association and functional study of TNF in schizophrenia risk. Schizophrenia Research 83:7-13. 14. Shirts BH, Wood J, Yolken RG, Nimgaonkar VL (2006). Association study of IL10, IL1β, and IL1RN and
schizophrenia using SNPs from a comprehensive database: suggestive association with rs16944 at IL1β. Schizophrenia Research 88:235-244. 15. Chowdari KV, Northup A, Pless L, Wood J , Joo YH, Mirnics K, Lewis DA, Levitt PR, Bacanu SA and Nimgaonkar VL(2007). DNA pooling: a comprehensive, multi-stage association analysis of ACSL6 and
SIRT5 polymorphisms in schizophrenia. Genes, Brain and Behavior. 6: 229–239.
16. Chowdari KV, Bamne M, Wood J, Talkowski ME, Mirnics K, Levitt P, Lewis DA, Nimgaonkar VL (2007).
Linkage disequilibrium patterns and functional analysis of RGS4 polymorphisms in relation to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 34(1):118-126. 17. Shirts BH, KimJJ, Reich S, Dickerson FB, Yolken RH, Devlin B, Nimgaonkar VL (2007). Polymorphisms
in MICB are associated with human herpes virus seropositivity and schizophrenia risk. Schizophrenia Research 94, 342-353. 18. Talkowski ME, Kirov G, Bamne M, Georgieva L, Torres G, Mansour H, Chowdari KV, Nilanova V, Wood J, McClain L, Prasad K, Shirts B, Zhang J, O’Donovan MC, Owen MJ, Devlin B, Nimgaonkar VL, (2008). A
network of dopaminergic gene variations implicated as risk factors for Schizophrenia. Human Molecular
Genetics. In press.
19. Shirts BH, Wood J, Yolken RH, Nimgaonkar VL (2008). Comprehensive evaluation of positional
candidates in the IL-18 pathway reveals suggestive associations with schizophrenia and herpes virus seropositivity. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. In Press. Research Support.

Ongoing Research Support

1 R01 MH63420 (Nimgaonkar)
5/1/03 – 3/31/08
NIMH Genetic Determinants of Bipolar Disorder This study aims to identify genes for bipolar disorder (BD) by testing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across chromosomal regions previously linked to BD.
Role: Principal Investigator
D43 TW 06167 (Nimgaonkar)
9/1/02 – 8/1/08
Training program for psychiatric genetics in India
This grant will provide psychiatrists from India with genetics training at the University of Pittsburgh.
Role: Principal Investigator
1 R21 MH079808-01 (Nimgaonkar)
4/1/07 - 3/31/09
Building Sustainable Research Capacity at Mansoura, Egypt
To build research infrastructure in Mansoura, conduct a focused research project dealing with parents of
patients with schizophrenia, and collect data that will enable a future R01 grant.
Role: Principal Investigator
07R-1712 (Nimgaonkar)
8/1/07 - 7/31/10
Testing Biomarkers for Schizophrenia Based on Infectious Exposure & Host Genetic Variation To replicate and refine detected associations among individuals without schizophrenia, evaluate segregation of associated SNPs from detected associations among schizophrenia patients and their relatives. Role: Principal Investigator (Nimgaonkar)
Study of transcription patterns in blood cells from patients with Bipolar I Disorder
The aim of this study is to better understand and characterize Bipolar 1 Disorder and related psychiatric
diseases. We will compare changes in transcription patterns in hematological tissues obtained from a sample
of cases with Bipolar 1 Disorder and a sample of unrelated controls.
Role: Principal Investigator
58-3148-7-172 (Nimgaonkar)
9/1/07 – 8/31/08
USDA
Consanguinity and Bipolar Disorder in Egypt: Molecular Genetic Analyses
This study will train junior clinical scientists and build research infrastructure at Mansoura University Hospital,
Egypt, through extension of the PI’s funded work investigating consanguinity among parents of patients with
Bipolar 1 Disorder and its relationship to the genetic etiology of schizophrenia.
Role: Principal Investigator
1 R01 MH066066-01A2 (Ganguli)
5/1/04-4/30/09
A Clinical Trial of Weight Reduction in Schizophrenia
This is a randomized trial of an intervention of weight reduction in schizophrenia and the effects of weight
reduction on cardiovascular risk factors in this population.
Role: Co-Investigator
2 R01 MH60952-06 (Birmaher)
7/1/06 - 6/30/11
NIMH
Children of Bipolar Parents: A High Risk Follow-Up Study
Aimed at investigating the early behavioral phenotypes, syndromal psychiatric disorders, circadian and sleep
patterns, negative life events, psychosocial factors, and inherited traits that are associated with the
development of BP in children.
Role: Co-Investigator
Stanley Medical Research Institute
(Prasad)
3/1/06-2/28/09

A Randomized Double blind Controlled Trial of Valacyclovir Add-on Treatment of HSV Positive Early Course
Schizophrenia Patients.
A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled evaluation of the efficacy of Valacyclovir in treating symptoms
of early course schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder in patients positive for herpes simplex virus.
Role: Co-Investigator
2 R10 MH56242 (Nimgaonkar)
9/1/02 – 07/31/08*
Genetic Susceptibility in Schizophrenia
This study utilizes 3 independent family cohorts from the U.S., U.K., and India and a combination of affected
sib-pairs analyses and family based association studies to localize genetic susceptibility for schizophrenia.
Role: Principal Investigator
1 R01 MH66181 (Nimgaonkar)
7/1/02 - 7/31/08*
Schizophrenia Liability Genes among African-Americans.
To identify genes that underlie liability to SCZ, a large and diverse sample of 1,260 African-American families
all of whom have a least one member diagnosed with SCZ will be recruited at eight collaborating sites.
Role: Principal Investigator
Completed Research Support
R03 TW06949-01 (Nimgaonkar)
11/1/04-10/31/07
Consanguinity and Risk of Bipolar Disorder I in Egypt
This grant will examine rates of consanguinity among parents of a sample of patients diagnosed with Bipolar 1
Disorder. Comparison will be made to levels of consanguinity among parents of a matched sample without
psychotic disorder. These studies may lay the foundation for future genetic studies among Egyptian patients.
Role: Principal Investigator

5 R01 MH63480-05 (Nimgaonkar)
7/24/01 - 6/30/07
NIMH
A Neurobehavioral Family Study of Schizophrenia
The goal of this proposal is to combine genetic and neurobiologic paradigms enabling detection and
localization of genes that modulate susceptibility to schizophrenia and related phenotypes.
Role: Principal Investigator

04R-771
(Nimgaonkar)
8/1/04-7/31/07
Stanley Medical Research Institute
Schizophrenia Susceptibility: Joint Effect of Cytomegalovirus Exposure and Genetic Variation
The objective of this project is to explore how cytomegalovirus exposure may contribute to risk for
schizophrenia among individuals with defined alleles of the MICB and TNF genes.
Role: Principal Investigator
Contract No. N01MH80001 (Sachs)
Subcontract to University of Pittsburgh under NIMH Human Genetics Initiative Contract No. N01MH80001 to Massachusetts General Hospital A Bio-Materials Repository for STEP-BD participants This ancillary study to the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) will support the collection of blood and other data from patients enrolled in the STEP-BD program. This effort ultimately enables a repository accessible to the scientific community. Role: Co-Investigator

Source: https://www.pstp.pitt.edu/pdfs/faculty/nih_Nimgaonkar.pdf