Mark Patrick Roeling

Short CV

07/2011 - current PhD student
Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Dept. of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, BinnensteBuiten study
09/2010 - 06/2011 Master of Science, Behavioral Genetics
VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dept. of Biological Psychology, Netherlands Twin Registry
01/2010 - 06/2011 Research Assistant
VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dept. of Biological Psychology, Netherlands Twin Registry
09/2005 - 07/2010 Bachelor Psychology
Tilburg University, Netherlands

PhD Project: Presynaptic gene networks for Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, anxiety disorders and other common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents

The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Erasmus MC conducts scientific research, patient care, and administers pre- and post-doctoral education. Large clinical and epidemiological studies are a primary focus and strength of the department. Recently we have started with the development of a large clinical cohort in which genetic and clinical data are collected. This study is called the BinnensteBuiten study. We aim to generate new scientific insight into the causes and correlates of childhood psychopathology in order to improve treatment and prognosis for children affected by these disorders.
This study proposes to take a conceptually and technically new approach to characterize multiple genetic variations that contribute to child psychiatric disorders by proposing specific candidate gene networks and pathways in the brain. We hypothesize that this approach will be more effective in characterizing multiple variations of small effect size by assuming that in biology these unknown variants work together in pathways and that multiple small effects in one genetic pathway accumulate to a measurable effect if tested collectively. From our and others’ previous work, it became clear that many genes expressed in the presynaptic nerve terminal are associated with general intelligence and/or attention. We postulate that impaired performance of presynaptic gene networks may contribute to the development of ADHD and anxiety disorders and, consequently, that gene variants with impaired function accumulate in these presynaptic networks. In this project the association between common childhood pathology and genes that are part of the presynaptic gene network, and, for comparison, several other gene networks in the brain (postsynaptic, glia, early development) will be collectively tested. Associations will be followed-up with functional genomic analysis. To test whether genes in the presynaptic network are specific to ADHD or anxiety or more generally related to childhood disorders, other psychiatric disorders including pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) will be included. Furthermore, there will be a collaboration to include a healthy control group.