Research Focus
Melanie Carless, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at UTSA. Dr. Carless is investigating how changes in microRNA expression regulate gene expression to influence variation in neuroanatomical and neurocognitive endophenotypes, and how this variation might play a role in psychiatric disorders.
Recently, Dr. Carless’s laboratory has identified several microRNAs whose expressions are both heritable and appear to influence neuroanatomical traits associated with depression.
In addition, Dr. Carless and her colleagues have uncovered evidence that genomic methylation within a number of genes is correlated with many metabolic syndrome-related phenotypes, such as measures of obesity, blood pressure and insulin and glucose levels, as well as with neuroanatomical and neurocognitive traits.
Dr. Carless has also continued to assess the role genetic variation in depression and neurological traits, identifying several variants within an important psychiatric-related gene that contribute to differences in neuroanatomical and neurocognitive traits.