Rachel L. Kember, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Member, Penn Center for Global Genomics & Health Equity
Health Science Specialist, Veterans Affairs
Senior Fellow, Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics
Department: Psychiatry
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
3535 Market Street
Office 551
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office 551
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-746-1956
Publications
Education:
BSc (Psychology)
University of Leeds, 2006.
MSc (Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry)
Kings College London, 2008.
PhD (Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry)
Kings College London, 2012.
Permanent linkBSc (Psychology)
University of Leeds, 2006.
MSc (Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry)
Kings College London, 2008.
PhD (Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry)
Kings College London, 2012.
Description of Research Expertise
The lab seeks to identify the complex phenotypic and genomic interactions that lead to substance use and psychiatric disease, using computational genetics methods in electronic health record datasets linked to biobanks.Selected Publications
Kranzler HR, Feinn R, Xu H, Ho BL, Saini D, Nicastro O, Jacoby A, Toikumo S, Gelernter J, Hartwell EE, Kember RL : Does Polygenic Risk for Substance-Related Traits Predict Ages of Onset and Progression of Symptoms? Addiction 118(9): 1675-1686, Sep 2023.Kember RL, Vickers-Smith R, Zhou H, Xu H, Dao C, Justice AC, Gelernter J, Vujkovic M, Kranzler HR : Genetic underpinnings of the transition from alcohol consumption to alcohol use disorder: shared and unique genetic architectures in a cross-ancestry sample. American Journal of Psychiatry 180(8): 584-593, Aug 2023.
Verma A, Damrauer SM, Naseer N, Weaver J, Kripke CM, Guare L, Sirugo G, Kember RL, Drivas TG, Dudek SM, Bradford Y, Lucas A, Judy R, Verma SS, Meagher E, Nathanson KL, Feldman M, Ritchie MD, Rader DJ, For The Penn Medicine BioBank.: The Penn Medicine BioBank: Towards a Genomics-Enabled Learning Healthcare System to Accelerate Precision Medicine in a Diverse Population. Journal of Personalized Medicine 12(12): 1974, Nov 2022.
Kember, R.L.*, Hartwell, E.H.*, Xu, H., Rotenberg, J., Almasy, L., Zhou, H., Gelernter, J., Kranzler, H. : Phenome-wide association analysis of substance use disorders in a deeply phenotyped sample. Biological Psychiatry 93(6): 536-545, Mar 2023 Notes: *These authors contributed equally.
Kember, RL, Vickers-Smith, RA, Xu, H, Toikumo, S, Niarchou, M, Zhou, H, Hartwell, EE, Crist, RC, Rentsch, CT, VA Million Veteran Program, Davis, LK, Justice, AC, Sanchez-Roige, S, Kampman, KM, Gelernter, J, Kranzler, H: Cross-ancestry meta-analysis of opioid use disorder uncovers novel loci with predominant effects on brain. Nature Neuroscience 25: 1279–1287, Sep 2022.
Toikumo S, Xu H, Gelernter J, Kember RL*, Kranzler HR.*: Integrating human brain proteomic data with genome-wide association study findings identifies novel brain proteins in substance use traits. Neuropsychopharmacology 47(13): 2292-2299, Dec 2022 Notes: *These authors contributed equally.
Hartwell EE, Merikangas AK, Verma SS, Ritchie MD; Regeneron Genetics Center, Kranzler HR, Kember RL.: Genetic liability for substance use associated with medical comorbidities in electronic health records of African- and European-ancestry individuals. Addiction Biology 27(1): e13099, Jan 2022.
Kember RL, Merikangas AK, Verma SS, Verma A, Judy R; Regeneron Genetics Center, Damrauer SM, Ritchie MD, Rader DJ, Bućan M.: Polygenic Risk of Psychiatric Disorders Exhibits Cross-trait Associations in Electronic Health Record Data from European Ancestry Individuals. Biological Psychiatry 89(3): 236-245, Jul 2021.
Kranzler Henry R*, Zhou Hang*, Kember Rachel L*, Vickers Smith Rachel, Justice Amy C, Damrauer Scott, Tsao Philip S, Klarin Derek, Baras Aris, Reid Jeffrey, Overton John, Rader Daniel J, Cheng Zhongshan, Tate Janet P, Becker William C, Concato John, Xu Ke, Polimanti Renato, Zhao Hongyu, Gelernter Joel: Genome-wide association study of alcohol consumption and use disorder in 274,424 individuals from multiple populations. Nature Communications 10(1): 1499, Apr 2019 Notes: *These authors contributed equally.
Kember Rachel L, Hou Liping, Ji Xiao, Andersen Lars H, Ghorai Arpita, Estrella Lisa N, Almasy Laura, McMahon Francis J, Brown Christopher, Bućan Maja: Genetic pleiotropy between mood disorders, metabolic, and endocrine traits in a multigenerational pedigree. Translational Psychiatry 8(1): 218, Oct 2018.