Current Member: Alexander Diacou

Alexander Diacou

Email: alexander.diacou@einsteinmed.org 

Education: 

B.A., Biological Sciences, Columbia University May 2008

M.Sc., Basic Medical Sciences, New York Medical College, May 2017 

Research interest:

Alexander manages Dr. Morrow’s human genetics research projects. Human 22q11.2 patient samples arrive at Einstein as part of Dr. Morrow’s collaboration with the International Brain and Behavior Consortium and the newly established 22q11.2 DS clinic at Children’s Hospital of Montefiore. Some current projects include examining the interrelationship of schizophrenia onset, cognition, and cardiac abnormalities in 22q patient populations; phenotypical analyses of patients with atypical deletions within the 22q11 region.

Previous publications:

1. Zhao Y, Guo T, Fiksinski A, Breetvelt E, McDonald-McGinn DM, Crowley TB, Diacou A, Schneider M, Eliez S, Swillen A, Breckpot J, Vermeesch J, Chow EWC, Gothelf D, Duijff S, Evers R, van Amelsvoort TA, van den Bree M, Owen M, Niarchou M, Bearden CE, Ornstein C, Pontillo M, Buzzanca A, Vicari S, Armando M, Murphy KC, Murphy C, Garcia-Minaur S, Philip N, Campbell L, Morey-Cañellas J, Raventos J, Rosell J, Heine-Suner D, Shprintzen RJ, Gur RE, Zackai E, Emanuel BS, Wang T, Kates WR, Bassett AS, Vorstman JAS, Morrow BE. Variance of IQ is partially dependent on deletion type among 1,427 22q11.2 deletion syndrome subjects. American Journal of Medical Genetics 176 (10), 2172-2181 (2018).
2. Guo T, Diacou A, Nomaru H, McDonald-McGinn DM, Hestand M, Demaerel W, Zhang L, Zhao Y, Ujueta F, Shan J, Montagna C, Zheng D, Crowley TB, Kushan-Wells L, Bearden CE, Kates WR, Gothelf D, Schneider M, Eliez S, Breckpot J, Swillen A, Vorstman J, Zackai E, Benavides Gonzalez F, Repetto GM, Emanuel BS, Bassett AS, Vermeesch JR, Marshall CR, Morrow BE; International Chromosome 22q11.2, International 22q11.2 Brain and Behavior Consortia. Deletion size analysis of 1680 22q11.2DS subjects identifies a new recombination hotspot on chromosome 22q11.2. Human Molecular Genetics 27 (7), 1150-1163 (2018).
3. Margolis KG, Stevanovic K, Li Z, Yang QM, Oravecz T, Zambrowicz B, Jhaver KG, Diacou A, Gershon MD. Pharmacological reduction of mucosal but not neuronal serotonin opposes inflammation in mouse intestine. Gut 63 (6), 928-937 (2014).