
Our lab is well suited to participate in this project on somatic mutation across human tissues, because of our longstanding interest in 1] somatic mutation in human brain, 2] cell lineage in human brain, and 3] innovative genomic technologies. Previous and ongoing work from our lab studies genetic disorders of human cerebral cortical development associated with epilepsy, intellectual disability, and other learning disorders. Mutations in these essential genes disrupt the normal development and function of the human brain and cause Mendelian pediatric brain diseases, manifesting as autism and epilepsy, as well as intellectual disability and other learning disorders. We have identified more than three-dozen human disease genes over the course of 20 years. Recent work from our lab has pioneered the analysis of clonal somatic mutations as causes of disease, and we have revealed roles for somatic mutations in pediatric focal epilepsy, adult temporal lobe epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders, and schizophrenia. We have also analyzed rates of occurrence of somatic mutations in normal brain cells, and revealed the ongoing accumulation of somatic mutations with age in single human neurons, even though these cells do not divide in adulthood. We most recently described additional increases in neuronal somatic mutations in neurons from Alzheimer disease brain and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Our work on single cell genomics has resulted in an expansion of our research into brain aging and degenerative diseases, as exemplified by recognition of the lab with the Pignolo Award for Aging Research from the Univ. of Pennsylvania in 2018. Before becoming Chief of the Division of Genetics and Genomics at BCH, I served as Director of the Harvard-MIT MD-PhD training program for three years, and have been active on many committees and as an advisor for this program for 20 years. I have been involved in post-doctoral training of over 50 MDs, PhDs, and MD/PhDs and more than 20 pre-doctoral students. Most of these trainees continue to be involved in medical research after leaving my lab, many starting their own labs. I am enthusiastic to continue in my role as a mentor to clinical and research trainees.
Christopher A. Walsh is Bullard Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children's Hospital, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Walsh completed MD and PhD degrees at the University of Chicago, neurology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and postdoctoral training at Harvard in Genetics. He has held the Bullard Professorship since 1999 and joined Children’s Hospital as Chief of Genetics in 2006. His lab’s work has been recognized by a Jacob Javits Award from the NINDS, the Dreifuss-Penry Award from the American Academy of Neurology, the Derek Denny-Brown and the Jacoby Awards from the American Neurological Association, the American Epilepsy Society’s Research Award, the Krieg Award from the Cajal Club, and the Wilder Penfield Award from the Middle Eastern Medical Assembly. He is an elected member of the American Neurological Association, the American Association of Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.