Margit Burmeister, PhD

The Burmeister identifies genes involved in brain disorders and the roles they play in disease processes, and how they interact with the environment. They have discovered numerous genes involved in neurological disorders including ataxia. Their studies of ataxias and other rare neurological disorders involve gathering genetic information from families with these disorders and performing genetic analyses. Dr. Burmeister is also on the scientific advisory board of the SCA27B foundation, as she found this ataxia gene mutation in the founding family.

Depression and addictions are complex brain disorders in which genetics and environment interact. Current work on depression is in collaboration with Dr. Srijan Sen, the director of the University of Michigan Depression Center and a former student of Dr. Burmeister, and work on addictions primarily with Dr. Mark Greenwald at Wayne State University.

(This multidisciplinary approach involves the collaboration of not only geneticists, but clinicians, psychologists, epidemiologists, statisticians and bioinformaticians both here and in China, where Burmeister spends several months each year teaching and conducting research. )

Research Highlights : What is (not) in our genes. Dr. Burmeister is interested in how our genetic make-up affects our behavior, and how we may modify our behavior according to genotype. One example is chronotype, whether we are early birds or night owls - if we can, early birds would get up early and work early, and night owls late. But medical interns have to go with the hospital schedule, so can’t modify their environment. In a recent study in collaborationv with Srijan Sen and Daniel Forger and his postdoc, Jonathan Tyler, we divided medical interns in “morning” types and “evening” types based purely on their genotypes. The graph below shows that those medical interns who have a genetic predisposition to be “night owls” lost much more sleep a week after the day light saving time change than those who are genetically tending to be early birds.

(This is just one example of how Dr. Burmeister is thinking - we shouldn’t think of most genetic predispositions as deterministic, but as giving a basis, on which often our behavior and life style can modify outcomes - so someone with a genetic predisposition to be a night owl won’t lose sleep with DST if they can adjust their schedule, someone with a genetic predisposition to diabetes can prevent getting diabetes by avoiding eating and drinking sugar, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight, and someone with a genetic predisposition to depression may avoid getting a depressive episode by avoiding alcohol and illicit drug use and stress. )

To read more please visit https://rdcu.be/cpfvZ

The Burmeister identifies genes involved in brain disorders and the roles they play in disease processes, and how they interact with the environment. They have discovered numerous genes involved in neurological disorders including ataxia. Their studies of ataxias and other rare neurological disorders involve gathering genetic information from families with these disorders and performing genetic analyses. Dr. Burmeister is also on the scientific advisory board of the SCA27B foundation, as she found this ataxia gene mutation in the founding family.

Depression and addictions are complex brain disorders in which genetics and environment interact. Current work on depression is in collaboration with Dr. Srijan Sen, the director of the University of Michigan Depression Center and a former student of Dr. Burmeister, and work on addictions primarily with Dr. Mark Greenwald at Wayne State University.

(This multidisciplinary approach involves the collaboration of not only geneticists, but clinicians, psychologists, epidemiologists, statisticians and bioinformaticians both here and in China, where Burmeister spends several months each year teaching and conducting research. )

Research Highlights : What is (not) in our genes. Dr. Burmeister is interested in how our genetic make-up affects our behavior, and how we may modify our behavior according to genotype. One example is chronotype, whether we are early birds or night owls - if we can, early birds would get up early and work early, and night owls late. But medical interns have to go with the hospital schedule, so can’t modify their environment. In a recent study in collaborationv with Srijan Sen and Daniel Forger and his postdoc, Jonathan Tyler, we divided medical interns in “morning” types and “evening” types based purely on their genotypes. The graph below shows that those medical interns who have a genetic predisposition to be “night owls” lost much more sleep a week after the day light saving time change than those who are genetically tending to be early birds.

(This is just one example of how Dr. Burmeister is thinking - we shouldn’t think of most genetic predispositions as deterministic, but as giving a basis, on which often our behavior and life style can modify outcomes - so someone with a genetic predisposition to be a night owl won’t lose sleep with DST if they can adjust their schedule, someone with a genetic predisposition to diabetes can prevent getting diabetes by avoiding eating and drinking sugar, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight, and someone with a genetic predisposition to depression may avoid getting a depressive episode by avoiding alcohol and illicit drug use and stress. )

To read more please visit https://rdcu.be/cpfvZ