Winyoo Chowanadisai

Our laboratory examines how a person's genetics affect the brain through its impact on nutrient metabolism. The brain is responsible for so much of who we are, how we see the world and how we solve problems in everyday life. Many nutrients are important for brain function and are necessary to ensure that we can harness the most of our brain's potential. As it turns out, how nutrients are absorbed by the body and the brain are controlled by genes and their translated proteins, so genetics can play a key role in whether the brain has enough nutrients to support itself.

We study a whole category of genes that can transport minerals in the body and the brain. Some examples of essential trace minerals are zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Genetic differences in these genes are associated with altered patterns in human brain imaging (MRI) that are common in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease or neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. As an example of one of our studies, when we model the genetic changes in a zinc transporter in the laboratory, we have found that our protein of interest has altered biochemical activity. When we disable the same gene of interest in cellular models in the lab, the result is reduced neurite outgrowth, which is similar to shorter lengths in axons and dendrites used by neurons to make connections in the brain. In animal models where we are targeting and inactivating this gene of interest, we have observed neural tube defects in frogs, and we are studying whether similar impairments are present in mice. This methodical approach for one gene can easily be expanded to the investigation of other similar nutrient metabolism genes. We are also examining large population health-genetic databases to identify genetic variations in the human brain that are associated with differences in mental health, cognitive ability, structural brain MRI patterns, and metabolic biomarkers.

The end goal of our research is to ensure that if people have differences in the ways their genes are functioning due to genetics, we may be able to recommend the dietary consumption of these essential nutrients in order to promote brain health, overcome genetic vulnerabilities, and build resilience to brain disorders or brain aging.

Research Interests:

Molecular genetics, Genomics, Brain development, Alzheimer's disease, Neurodegeneration, Schizophrenia, Neuropsychiatric disorders, Metal metabolism genes, Nutrient-gene interactions, Data science, Cloud computing