פרופ' דוד גורביץ

Genomic Biomarkers for CNS Drug Response

Our lab, serving as the National Laboratory for the Genetics of Israeli Populations, was established in 1995 by the Israeli Academy for Sciences and Humanities as the National Biobank of Israel. The biobank includes DNA samples and immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines from over 2000 unrelated healthy donors representing the large genetic diversity of Jewish, Arab and Druze communities of Israel. This novel resource has been applied by hundreds of research groups in Israel and abroad.

Our primary interest is in finding genomic biomarkers for the response to CNS drugs – , for improving personalized medicine with respect to both treatment efficacy and safety. Our research is currently focused on drugs for treating major depression, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease. These CNS diseases inflict huge societal costs, and biomarkers are needed for better treatment. We use human immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines from unrelated healthy donors for comparing drug response and searching for genomic biomarkers, including mRNA for genes, and non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and small nucleolar RNAs = snoRNAs.

Among genes that we identified as tentative genomic biomarkers for the response to anti-depressant drugs, two genes, CHL1 and ITGB3, have been replicated in clinical cohorts of major depression patients, lending support for our novel research approach. A recent publication from our lab has been cited in a report by Scientific American: Unraveling the Mystery of How Antidepression Drugs Work. In addition to the research on genomic biomarkers, we are involved in research on bioethics and societal aspects of human genomics research.