Vahram Haroutunian, PhD
After completing a postdoctoral training program at Princeton concentrating on research in development and in aging in 1982, Dr. Haroutunian joined the faculty at the James J Peters VA Medical Center and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He has served as the Interim Director of the JJ Peters VA Medical Center MIRECC and is the Director for Research within the MIRECC. He has directed the Division of Basic and Laboratory Science in the Department of Psychiatry, the Alzheimer’s disease and Schizophrenia Brain Bank, a National Institute of Aging Program Project grant entitled Clinical and Biological Studies of Early Alzheimer’s disease, multiple NIH R01s, U01s and Veterans Affairs Merit grants on the neurobiology of aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia. He is the director of one of the 6 national NIH Neurobiobanks, located at the James J Peters VA. He has also been a major contributor to Mount Sinai’s Silvio Conte Center for Neuroscience and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
In the past decade, Dr. Haroutunian’s research has centered on the molecular and neuropathological correlates of schizophrenia, dementia, and healthy aging. He uses molecular biological techniques, including microarray and RNA-seq technology, and neuropathological studies to understand the biological substrates of mental illness, dementia, and healthy aging. Dr. Haroutunian uses postmortem human brain and genetically modified mouse model systems to study cell-type-specific molecular features of the human brain.
Research Interests
Schizophrenia, depression, suicide, neurobiology, Alzheimer’s disease, healthy aging, cell-type specific gene expression
Grants
THE NIH BRAIN AND TISSUE REPOSITORY (2019-2024)
Role: Principal Investigator, Funding Source: NIH
Understanding the molecular mechanisms that contribute to neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer Disease (2019-2024)
Role: MPI, Funding Source NIH
Role: MPI, Funding Source: NIH/NIDA
Role: MPI, Funding Source: NIH
Understanding the protective and neuroinflammatory role of human brain immune cells in Alzheimer Disease (2020-2025)
Role: MPI, Funding Source: NIH/NIA
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Sheep Request for Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter (FACS; MOFLO ASTRIOS EQ) (2018)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: VA.
Integrative Network Modeling of Cognitive Resilience to Alzheimer's Disease (2017-2022)
Role: MPI. Funding source: NIA.
Single-nucleus transcriptome profiling across multiple brain regions in Parkinson's Disease (2021-2022)
Role: MPI, Funding Source: NIH
Elevated FSH - A Driver for Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease (2021-2026)
Role: MPI, Funding Source: NIH
Towards a Comprehensive Signaling Pathway Map of Parahippocampal Vulnerability in Alzheimers Disease (2017-2020)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Neuropathology Core (2020-2025)
Role: Principal Investigator, Funding Source: NIH
Role: Co-Investigator, Funding Source: NINDS
Systems modeling of shared and distinct molecular mechanisms underlying comorbid Major Depressive Disorder and Alzheimer's disease (2018-2023)
Role: Co-Investigator, Funding Source: NIH/NIMH
Higher Order Chromatin and Genetic Risk for Alzheimer's Disease (2021-2026)
Role: Co-Investigator, Funding Source: NIH/NIA
Role: Co-Investigator, Funding Source: NIH/NIA
Sheep Grant Application: Digital Histology and Microscopy for Human and Animal Tissue (2016)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: VA.
Neurobiological Mechanisms of Reduced Ad-Neuropathology by Treatment of Diabetes (2014-2018)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: VA.
Integrative Biology Approach to Complexity of Alzheimer's Disease (2013-2017)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
NIMH, NICHD, and NINDS Brain and Tissue Repository (2013-2014)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
P5-Mouse Phenotyping (2011-2013)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Core B-Clinical/Brain Bank Core (2011-2013)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Core C-Data Management And Statistics (2008-2012)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Core--Data Management (2007-2008)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Data Management and Statistics Core (2006-2007)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Contribution of Cell Cycle Processes to Myelin Deficits in Schizophrenia (2003-2013)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Cortico-Thalamic Glutamate/GABA MRNA in Schizophrenia (2003-2008)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Core-- Brain Bank (1996)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Neurofilament Mid-Sized Transgenic Mouse as a Model for Alzheimer's Disease (1994)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Synthesis of B-App in Transmitter Deficient Models of AD (1992-1995)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
Toward an Animal Model of Alzheimer Disease (1986)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIA.
In the News
Breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment hinges on diabetes drugs: study (NY Post, November 2018)
Diabetes Meds May Reduce Alzheimer's Pathology (Medscape, November 2018)
Brains in the Bronx (Reuters, August 2017)
Inside a human brain bank, where frozen tubs preserve slices of spongy tissue (Business Insider, August 2017)
Inside the Bronx's human brain bank (NY Daily News, June 2017)
Meet the Brain Banker Who Keeps Thousands of Brains In His Lab In the Bronx (Atlas Obscura, February 2016)
Research shifts to examine role of myelin and suggests new therapies may be on the horizon (Newsday, March 2003)
Publications (Selected)
A full list of Dr. Haroutunian’s publications can be found here.
Uezato, A., Jitoku, D., Shimazu, D., Yamamoto, N., Kurumaji, A., Iwayama, Y., Toyota, T., Yoshikawa, T., Haroutunian, V., Bentea, E., Meller, J., Sullivan, C. R., Meador-Woodruff, J. H., McCullumsmith, R. E., & Nishikawa, T. Differential genetic associations and expression of PAPST1/SLC35B2 in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Journal of neural transmission, 2022.
Trubetskoy, V., Pardiñas, A. F., Qi, T., Panagiotaropoulou, G., Haroutunian, V … Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia. Nature, 2022.
Girdhar, K., Hoffman, G. E., Bendl, J., Rahman, S., … Haroutunian, V, Akbarian, S. Chromatin domain alterations linked to 3D genome organization in a large cohort of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder brains. Nature neuroscience, 2022.
Pardiñas, A. F., Smart, S. E., Willcocks, I. R., …Haroutunian, V, … Vázquez-Bourgon, J. Interaction Testing and Polygenic Risk Scoring to Estimate the Association of Common Genetic Variants With Treatment Resistance in Schizophrenia. JAMA psychiatry, 2022.
Katsel P, Roussos P, Beeri MS, Gama-Sosa MS, Gandy S, Khan S, Haroutunian V. Parahippocampal gyrus expression of endothelial and insulin receptor signaling pathway genes is modulated by Alzheimer’s disease and normalized by treatment with anti-diabetic agents. PloS ONE, 2018.
Katsel P, Roussos P, Pletnikov M, Haroutunian V. Microvascular anomaly conditions in psychiatric disease. Schizophrenia - angiogenesis connection. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2017.
Fullard JF, Halene TB, Giambartolomei C, Haroutunian V, Akbarian S, Roussos P.Understanding the genetic liability to schizophrenia through the neuroepigenome. Schizophrenia Research, 2016.
Haroutunian V, Katsel P, Roussos P, Davis KL, Altshuler LL, Bartzokis G. Myelination, oligodendrocytes, and serious mental illness. Glia, 2014.
Roussos P, Katsel P, Davis KL, Siever LJ, Haroutunian V. A system-level transcriptomic analysis of schizophrenia using postmortem brain tissue samples. Archives of General Psychiatry, 2012.
