 Helen Willsey, PhD
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| Title(s) | Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychiatry |
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| School | School of Medicine |
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| Address | 1550 Fourth St
San Francisco CA 94158
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| Phone | 415-476-7730 |
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| vCard | Download vCard |
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| Title(s) | UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences |
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 Biography | Duke University | BS | 2009 | Biology | | Yale University | PhD | 2015 | Genetics | | University of California, Berkeley | Postdoc | 2016 | Xenopus Methods | | University of California, San Francisco | Postdoc | Current | Developmental Neuroscience |
| UCSF | 2020 | | Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring | | UCSF | 2020 | | Psychiatry Department Trainee Research Award | | UC Berkeley | 2016 | | 1st Place, Postdoc Poster, GGD Retreat | | International Xenopus Meeting | 2016 | | 1st Place, Postdoc Poster | | Yale University | 2015 | | Carolyn Slayman Outstanding Genetics Thesis Prize | | CSHL, Xenopus Course | 2015 | | 1st Place, Image Competition | | Yale University | 2013 | | Best Research in Progress Seminar, Genetics Department | | Yale University | 2011 | | Best Poster Award, Genetics Department Retreat | | Duke University | 2009 | | Edward C. Horn Memorial Prize for Excellence in Biology | | Duke University | 2009 | | Summa cum laude | | Duke University | 2009 | | Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society |
Overview Helen is interested in understanding how Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-associated genes function during neurodevelopment. Despite the genetic heterogeneity of ASD, several lines of evidence suggest that ASD-associated genes share common molecular underpinnings. To identify these common mechanisms, Helen leverages CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing with the diploid frog model Xenopus tropicalis. Due to the speed of frog development, Helen can rapidly study the loss of function phenotype of many ASD genes in parallel. Specifically, she injects Cas9 protein and a single guide RNA (sgRNA) against an ASD gene at the two-cell embryo stage, generating animals in which exactly half the body (separated by the midline) is mutant, allowing for direct comparison of mutant and control cells in the same animal. Helen uses a variety of techniques to identify ‘convergent phenotypes,’ including RNAseq, in situ hybridization, and immunostaining. In this way, Helen's work is aimed at identifying phenotypes most relevant to ASD pathology to provide a path forward for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying ASD.
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The neurodevelopmental disorder risk gene DYRK1A is required for ciliogenesis and control of brain size in Xenopus embryos. Development. 2020 Jun 22; 147(21).
Willsey HR, Xu Y, Everitt A, Dea J, Exner CRT, Willsey AJ, State MW, Harland RM. PMID: 32467234.
View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields:
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DYRK1A-related intellectual disability: a syndrome associated with congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract. Genet Med. 2019 12; 21(12):2755-2764.
Blackburn ATM, Bekheirnia N, Uma VC, Corkins ME, Xu Y, Rosenfeld JA, Bainbridge MN, Yang Y, Liu P, Madan-Khetarpal S, Delgado MR, Hudgins L, Krantz I, Rodriguez-Buritica D, Wheeler PG, Al-Gazali L, Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al Shamsi A, Gomez-Ospina N, Chao HT, Mirzaa GM, Scheuerle AE, Kukolich MK, Scaglia F, Eng C, Willsey HR, Braun MC, Lamb DJ, Miller RK, Bekheirnia MR. PMID: 31263215.
View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields: Translation: HumansAnimals
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Katanin-like protein Katnal2 is required for ciliogenesis and brain development in Xenopus embryos. Dev Biol. 2018 10 15; 442(2):276-287.
Willsey HR, Walentek P, Exner CRT, Xu Y, Lane AB, Harland RM, Heald R, Santama N. PMID: 30096282.
View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields: Translation: AnimalsCells
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The Psychiatric Cell Map Initiative: A Convergent Systems Biological Approach to Illuminating Key Molecular Pathways in Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Cell. 2018 07 26; 174(3):505-520.
Willsey AJ, Morris MT, Wang S, Willsey HR, Sun N, Teerikorpi N, Baum TB, Cagney G, Bender KJ, Desai TA, Srivastava D, Davis GW, Doudna J, Chang E, Sohal V, Lowenstein DH, Li H, Agard D, Keiser MJ, Shoichet B, von Zastrow M, Mucke L, Finkbeiner S, Gan L, Sestan N, Ward ME, Huttenhain R, Nowakowski TJ, Bellen HJ, Frank LM, Khokha MK, Lifton RP, Kampmann M, Ideker T, State MW, Krogan NJ. PMID: 30053424.
View in: PubMed Mentions: 9 Fields: Translation: Humans
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Localized JNK signaling regulates organ size during development. Elife. 2016 03 14; 5.
Willsey HR, Zheng X, Carlos Pastor-Pareja J, Willsey AJ, Beachy PA, Xu T. PMID: 26974344.
View in: PubMed Mentions: 2 Fields: Translation: AnimalsCells
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Gp93, the Drosophila GRP94 ortholog, is required for gut epithelial homeostasis and nutrient assimilation-coupled growth control. Dev Biol. 2010 Mar 15; 339(2):295-306.
Maynard JC, Pham T, Zheng T, Jockheck-Clark A, Rankin HB, Newgard CB, Spana EP, Nicchitta CV. PMID: 20044986.
View in: PubMed Mentions: 21 Fields: Translation: AnimalsCells
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| Year | Publications |
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| 2010 | 1 | | 2016 | 1 | | 2018 | 2 | | 2019 | 1 | | 2020 | 1 |
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