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Email

yamamoto@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor

Department of Molecular & Human Genetics (primary) and Department of Neuroscience (secondary)
²ÝÁñÉçÇøÈë¿Ú
Houston, Texas United States

Associate Director

Genetics & Genomics Graduate Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, ²ÝÁñÉçÇøÈë¿Ú

Investigator

Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI)
Texas Children's Hospital
Houston, Texas United States

Co-Director, Drosophila Core

Model Organisms Screening Center (MOSC) for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN)

SFARI Investigator

Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)

Co-Chair of Steering and Executive Committees

Undiagnosed Diseases Network

Addresses

Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Office)

1250 Moursund St.
NRI-1025.12
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (832) 824-8119
yamamoto@bcm.edu

Education

BS from University of Tokyo

03/2005 - Tokyo, Japan

DVM from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan

04/2005 - Tokyo, Japan

PhD from ²ÝÁñÉçÇøÈë¿Ú

03/2012 - Houston, Texas United States

Post-Doctoral Fellowship at ²ÝÁñÉçÇøÈë¿Ú

12/2013 - Houston, Texas United States

Professional Interests

• Integration of Drosophila Genetics and Human Genomics
• New Disease Gene Discovery
• Drosophila Technology and Resource Development
• Cell-Cell Communication in Development and Disease
• Facilitation of the Use of Model Organisms in Human Disease Diagnosis and Research
• Bioinformatic Tool Development

Professional Statement

Many projects in the Yamamoto lab are related to rare and undiagnosed diseases. In fact, >25 million individuals are affected by rare or ultra-rare diseases in the US alone, and many experience a long and winding 'diagnostic odyssey' to try to find out the cause of their disorders. While state-of-the-art sequencing technologies such as whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) may provide an answer to a subset of these individuals, many are left with a handful of candidate genetic variants that require experimental studies to understand their functional consequences. As a member of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Model Organisms Screening Center (MOSC) and BCM Center for Precision Medicine Models (CPMM), we utilize Drosophila to test whether a genetic variant(s) identified in a patient is the cause of their disease, which is pursued in close collaboration with clinicians and human geneticists across the country and abroad. I am also involved in development of novel computational tools such as MARRVEL and ModelMatcher with bioinformaticians and programmers to facilitate rare disease diagnosis and research.

Over the years, my interest has expanded to include more common neurological disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric diseases, and drug addiction. More recently, we are also developing creative strategies to study infectious diseases such as Zika virus mediated microcephaly and COVID-19, given their socioeconomic importance. In summary, while members of my lab and I work on diverse research topics, all projects are built on a common foundation that harness the 'awesome power of fly genetics'.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Yamamoto S*, Jaiswal M*, Charng WL, Gambin T, Karaca E, Mirzaa G, Wiszniewski W, Sandoval H, Haelterman NA, Xiong B, Zhang K, Bayat V, David G, Li T, Chen K, Gala U, Harel T, Pehlivan D, Penney S, Vissers LE, de Ligt J et al. (* Equal Contribution) "." Cell. 2014 Sep 25;159(1):200-214. Pubmed PMID:
• Yamamoto S, Charng WL, Rana NA, Kakuda S, Jaiswal M, Bayat V, Xiong B, Zhang K, Sandoval H, David G, Wang H, Haltiwanger RS, Bellen HJ "." Science. 2012 Nov 30;338(6111):1229-32. Pubmed PMID:
• Bellen HJ, Yamamoto S "." Cell. 2015 Sep 24;163(1):12-14. Pubmed PMID:
• Marcogliese PC*, Deal SL*, Andrews J*, Harnish JM*, Bhavana VH, Graves HK, Jangam S, ..., Rosenfeld JA, Marom R, Wangler MF#, Yamamoto S# (*Equal Contribution, #Co-Corresponding Authors) "." Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 15;38(11):110517. Pubmed PMID: