Inês is a Publication Manager overseeing a portfolio that includes journals in the fields of Cardiovascular System, Psychiatry & Psychology, in addition to the Biomedicine Hub journal, a sound science open access journal. Prior to joining Karger she held different editorial development roles at Frontiers and was a researcher contributing to international projects involving renowned institutions in Europe, USA, UAE, KSA and The Philippines. Inês holds a MSc in Biological Engineering and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego & Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Editorial Board Member of Complex Psychiatry.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and the Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). I co-lead the Sanchez-Roige lab with Lisa, a talented British Shorthair, and Margot, a curious three-year-old. Psychiatric geneticist, with emphasis on translational research, I am passionate about identifying the biological drivers that place people at risk for developing substance use disorders and comorbid physical and mental health conditions. I am a member of several international consortiums (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, PsycheMERGE, Externalizing Consortium, Latin American Genomics Consortium), with the goal to improve mental health by advancing and translating research in psychiatric genetics through collaboration, communication and education. I am fortunate to work with stellar colleagues, most of whom are on the editorial board of this journal!
You and your team leverage phenomic and genomic tools to unravel the biology of substance use disorders. How did you become interested in this field?
The biggest challenge in medicine and psychiatry is how to improve health. But psychiatric disorders, and particularly substance use disorders, have complex histories. They derive from a dense context – genetics, environment, and their interactions. Substance use disorders are often chronic, yet treatable conditions. But the challenging reality is that existing treatments have only limited efficacy. Over the past decade, with the advent of genome-wide association studies, the field of psychiatric genetics has offered an outpour of discoveries. We have identified more than 200 genetic loci across a range of substance use disorders, and the list is expanding each year. Suddenly, there may be a cause for optimism that genetic research may impact clinical arenas and have important implications for diagnosis and treatment of such devastating conditions. Can genetics inform opportunities for “precision psychiatry”? Can we identify genetic variants that could serve as novel therapeutic targets? Can we, through our genomic discoveries, educate and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorders? The ability to address these questions, and make an impact on the health of patients and their loved ones, is what attracted me to this field.
For more details visit the Sanchez-Roige Lab’s webpage and check their latest publications in Complex Psychiatry:
Identifying High-Risk Comorbidities Associated with Opioid Use Patterns Using Electronic Health Record Prescription Data
Jennings M.V. · Lee H. · Rocha D.B. · Bianchi S.B. · Coombes B.J. · Crist R.C. · Faucon A.B. · Hu Y. · Kember R.L. · Mallard T.T. · Niarchou M. · Poulsen M.N. · Straub P. · Urman R.D. · Walsh C.G. · PsycheMERGE Substance Use Disorder Workgroup · Davis L.K. · Smoller J.W. · Troiani V. · Sanchez-Roige
Complex Psychiatry (DOI:10.1159/000525313)
Accelerating Opioid Use Disorders Research by Integrating Multiple Data Modalities
Bianchi S.B. · Jeffery A.D. · Samuels D.C. · Schirle L. · Palmer A.A. · Sanchez-Roige S.
Complex Psychiatry (DOI:10.1159/000525079)
In the last few years phenomic and genomic tools have greatly impacted all areas of biological and medical research. What would you say has been the greatest impact in the field of psychiatry? And/or, what do you envision for the field of Psychiatry now that these techniques are available and being optimized?
Decades of family and twin studies have indisputably established that psychiatric disorders have a familial and heritable component. The disappointing reality is that, unlike Mendelian disorders, mental illnesses are extremely complex, reflecting the interplay of hundreds to thousands of genetic loci and environmental factors conferring risk. With the advent of genome-wide association studies, we have seen new and fascinating insights into the complex etiology of mental illness. We have learned that psychiatric disorders are extremely polygenic (omnigenic, even), including the full spectrum of common DNA variation. We have identified specific genetic loci for virtually all major psychiatric disorders. The biggest revelation has been the finding that these risk loci are shared across psychiatric and even somatic disorders. Such findings demonstrate that our clinical nosology does not align with the underlying biology (as it is often said, “the genes have not read the DSM”) and suggest new ways to define and potentially treat mental disorders. These discoveries have been propelled by several key advances. Perhaps the most important one was the development of “team science” through the formation of large consortia efforts. But we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
To fully realize the potential of pharmacogenetics and precision medicine, we will need to address several major gaps. Although we have successfully mapped hundreds of loci associated with complex disorders, we need new tools, longitudinal and diverse datasets to shed new light on disease psychopathology. The advent of single-cell transcriptomics and other -omics, the availability of new tools for functional and imaging genomics, and the development of methods that account for how genetic variants (common, and rare) interact with environmental factors, will provide new windows into the biology of psychiatric disorders possibly sooner than we realize.
You are an active Member of the Editorial Board of Complex Psychiatry. What made you consider this role? Does it affect your other professional roles? How?
In March 2020, Drs. Gelernter and Polimanti (editors-in-chief) invited me to support and continue to grow Complex Psychiatry. I joined the board, in a heartbeat, for two reasons. First, dissemination of results is paramount to the scientific community. Serving on editorial boards that align with my research is my responsibility as a scientist. Second, the editors and the members of the editorial board are leaders in the field. Therefore, being exposed to this vibrant community inspires me to make better science! As a member of the editorial board, I help assist with the vision and content of the journal. I am exceedingly grateful to be able to showcase my work in this pioneering journal.
If you had to endorse Complex Psychiatry to a colleague in only a couple of sentences, what would you highly recommend?
With a stellar editorial board committed to rapid communication, Complex Psychiatry showcases the hard, multi-disciplinary work of dedicated scientists and trainees with the common goal of cracking the code of psychiatric disorders.
We recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Professor of Medicine at McGovern Medical School, UTHealth, Houston. He is an Associate Editor of Cardiology since 1993, serving under three different editors. In 2021, Drs. Taegtmeyer and Atar initiated the section “Icons in Cardiology”, to reflect on major discoveries by investigators whose work in the past paved the way for the future.
Can you tell us about yourself? How did you become interested in cardiology?
I grew up in Germany during and after WWII as a child of a middle-class family. My grandfather was a physician, my father had studied forestry. My father had a strong influence on my interest in nature. Later on, my love for the basic sciences was kindled by two outstanding teachers in medical school at the University of Freiburg, one was Albrecht Fleckenstein (Physiology), and the other was Helmut Holzer (Biochemistry). To keep us students awake, they laced their lectures with anecdotes. Equipped with their lantern slides and a blackboard, our professors taught us more than facts. They also shared with us some of their latest discoveries, from calcium antagonists to protect the heart, to mitochondrial respiration to produce ATP.
You describe yourself as a physician-scientist. Can you explain why?
In his book “Science and the Quiet Art” (1996), the late Oxford hematologist, Sir David Weatherall, draws attention to the tension between science and the art of caring for patients. This tension is pervasive in academic medicine.
As a physician-scientist, I aim to improve the care and quality of life of patients afflicted with cardiometabolic disease, which includes diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and heart failure. While scientists are supposed to work in the lab, caring for patients as a scientist is another challenge. From my time as a medical resident until 50 years later (2021), my clinic has always been on Monday mornings. This, of course, is sheer luck. Since I entered medical school, I have considered it important to secure a solid clinical training before embarking on an equally solid training in research. In a way, the principles derived from basic research are directly applicable to treating patients. Witness the discovery of penicillin, of insulin, of adrenergic receptors to cite a few. One of those principles that arose from our work in the lab in recent years, is unloading the failing heart from metabolic stress. Witness also the success of bariatric surgery or the quiet revolution of gliflozins for the treatment of heart failure. I like the adage that today’s research becomes tomorrow’s principle in medical practice.
What challenges and developments do you foresee for the field of cardiac metabolism in the next few years?
A broad range of investigators in cardiac metabolism have prepared the ground for a paradigm shift in our understanding of heart disease, especially of heart failure. I would like to make three points. First, today we recognize that diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, all have deep roots in metabolism. In fact, metabolic remodeling precedes, initiates, and sustains functional and structural remodeling. Secondly, we also recognize the two branches of metabolism that crossover at many points: the catabolic branch, which generates ATP (an organic compound that provides energy) from the oxidative metabolism of fuels, and the anabolic branch, which makes and renews all the structural elements of the heart, and which uses ATP in this process. Simply said: The heart is a self-renewing engine which converts chemical energy into mechanical energy. A fascinating concept. Third, the current wave of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure have made us all aware of metabolic stress as the main driver of premature death and disability from heart disease.
Can you elaborate?
Many investigators today are taking a more holistic approach to cardiac metabolism. They have moved from a single molecule, like cholesterol, to much broader concepts, like unloading the heart from neurohumoral or metabolic stress- which I have already mentioned.
In short, we are living in exciting times, in which paradigm shifts are imminent. The question is: Are our minds prepared to see those paradigm shifts? As the famous biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) is supposed to have said: “Discovery means seeing what everyone sees and thinking what no one thinks”. This, I think, is the main reason for the “Icons in Cardiology” section.
In 2021 you have initiated the section “Icons in Cardiology” in the Cardiology. What led you to think of such a project?
The academic environment has changed considerably during the last 50 years. It is worth the effort to preserve the unity of research, patient care, and teaching, and this is one of the purposes of the “Icons in Cardiology” section.
Also, as mentioned before, I believe that learning from the minds and lives of the giants on whose shoulders we stand will help us identify those concepts which are of lasting value, avoiding reinventing the wheel on ‘re-discoveries’.
In cardiology, we are very fortunate to have had leaders with creative minds, like Rudolf Virchow and Sir William Osler in the 19th century, Einthoven, Langendorff, Forssmann in the 20th century, and all the “icons” whose ingenuity we plan to present in this new section.
Thinking beyond the cardiology subject field, what do you think is the role of medical history in current clinical research and practice?
In my postgraduate career, I had the good fortune to meet some of the exceptional scientists. A common trait among them was that they dared to be different at a critical time in their lives. To name a few, Hans Krebs, Hermann (Hugh) Blaschko, Richard Bing, and many others who were out of their jobs when the Nazis ascended to power in Germany. When they no longer felt welcome at home, they moved abroad and flourished in their careers in science. Another person who dared to be different was a surgical resident, Werner Forssmann, who performed the first cardiac catheterization on himself – and lost his job over it. “You can do those little tricks in a circus, but not in a respectable academic department”, the chairman said at his dismissal. Forty years later, this story was told to me by Dr. Max Fischbach in Boston who was present when it happened. Forssmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1956, together with André Cournand and Dickinson Richards. Another one of my heroes is Helen Taussig, who overcame many obstacles in her training and professional career as the world’s first pediatric cardiologist, and later on, led a successful campaign to stem the tide of thalidomide-induced birth defects – all by her own initiative.
By learning about the lives of ‘Icons’ we hope it may be possible to identify the traits that characterize the courage of ‘great minds’ and use this knowledge when searching for a great mentor.
Thank you very much for this interesting interview!
Check out Prof. Taegtmeyer’s tips on how to succeed in academia.
How can young researchers or medical doctors find their place in (medical) history? We talked with Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Professor of Medicine at McGovern Medical School, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Associate Editor of Cardiology journal (since 1993).
Prof. Taegtmeyer has authored or co-authored 330 peer-reviewed papers, edited three textbooks, supervised a large number of medical and graduate students, residents, postdoctoral and cardiology fellows. His laboratory is funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) since 1976. Here are his tips:
1. Associate yourself with the best possible teachers you can find.
Your successes in exams cannot replace a good teacher motivating you to think and to work independently, but remember this: while we stand on the shoulders of giants, we also stand on the shoulders of those who trust and support us.
2. Know yourself
The hardest thing in life is knowing yourself. Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have said once: “The three hardest things in life are steel, diamonds, and knowing yourself.” Like any success in life, knowing yourself is always work in progress.
3. Dare to be different
Once you think you have found your calling, dare to be different and follow your instincts.
4. Serve in many different ways
In the clinical world serving means first and foremost caring for your patients, most often as part of a team and accompanied by students. The main goals are to assess the facts, inform and protect the patient. In the world of research serving means to follow the scientific method, share your expertise, and lead a team. For a more experienced investigator, this may also mean serving as a reviewer of scientific manuscripts, reviewer of research proposals, and teaching a course. I like to joke: Never decline to serve on a Study Section (the main body that reviews research grant applications) because the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the entire peer review system have supported my own research for more than four decades through competitively reviewed grants.
We thank Dr. Prof. Heinrich Taegtmeyer for his valuable insights. Read the interview with him about a special series in the journal Cardiology.
