Mary-Claire King
Professor of Genome Sciences and of Medicine (Medical Genetics)

In our group, we use experimental and bioinformatics genomics tools to study complex human conditions. Our primary areas of interest are inherited breast and ovarian cancer and inherited deafness, and this year we initiated studies of the genetics of schizophrenia. Our goals are to identify and characterize critical genes in informative families and populations. We are interested in disentangling heterogeneous genetic influences and understanding the interaction between genetic and environmental influences on these traits. Our lab also applies genomic sequencing to the identification of victims of human rights abuses.

Publications:

DelloRusso C, Welcsh PL, Wang W, Garcia RL, King M-C, Swisher EM.
Functional characterization of a novel BRCA1-null ovarian cancer cell
line in response to ionizing radiation. Mol Cancer Res 5: 35-45, 2007

Walsh T and King M-C. Ten genes for inherited breast cancer. Cancer Cell
11: 5-11, 2007

McClellan JM, Susser E, King MC. 2006. Schizophrenia: A common disease
caused by multiple rare alleles? Br J Psychiat 190:194-199, 2006

Simchoni S, Friedman E, Kaufman B, Gershoni-Baruch R, Orr-Urtreger A,
Kedar-Barnes I, Shiri-Sverdlov R, Dagan E, Tsabari S, Shohat M, Catane
R, King M-C, Lahad A, Levy-Lahad E. Familial clustering of site-specific
cancer risks associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in the Ashkenazi
Jewish population. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 3770-3774, 2006

Walsh T, Casadei S, Coats KH, Swisher E, Stray SM, Higgins J, Roach K,
Mandell JB Lee MK, Ciernikova S, Foretova L, Soucek P, King M-C.
Spectrum of mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and p53 in families at
high risk of breast cancer. JAMA 295: 1379-1388, 2006

Walsh T, Abu Rayan A, Abu Sa’ed J, Shahin H, Shepshelovich J, Lee MK,
Hirschberg K, Tekin M, Salhab W, Avraham KB, King M-C, Kanaan M. Genomic
analysis of a heterogeneous Mendelian phenotype: Multiple novel alleles
for inherited hearing loss in the Palestinian population. Hum Genomics
2: 203-211, 2006

Shahin H, Walsh T, Sobe T, Abu Sa'ed J, Abu Rayan A, Lynch ED, Lee MK,
Avraham KB, King M-C, Kanaan M. Mutations in a novel isoform of TRIOBP
that encodes a filamentous TRIO and F-actin binding protein are
responsible for DFNB28 recessive non-syndromic hearing loss. Am J Hum
Genet 78: 144-152, 2006

Lipovich L, King M-C. Abundant novel transcriptional units and
unconventional gene pairs on human chromosome 22. Genome Res 16: 45-54,
2006

additional publication listings available via PubMed