Michael J. Gandal, MD, Ph.D.
William & Noreen Hetznecker Associate Professor in Psychiatry
Principal Investigator, Lifespan Brain Institute (LIBI), Penn Med and the Children’s Hospital Philadelphia
Member, Penn MSTP Advisory Committee
Member, Penn MSTP Admissions committee, University of Pennsylvania
Member, Penn Epigenetics Institute
Member, Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, CHOP
Member, Center for Computational Biomedicine
Senior Fellow, Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI)
Clinical Director, Neurodevelopment General Ambulatory Practice (GAP) Outpatient Clinic
Department: Psychiatry
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
3615 Civic Center Blvd
Abramson Pediatric Research Center, 1016C
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Abramson Pediatric Research Center, 1016C
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-573-4438
Fax: 844-316-5129
Fax: 844-316-5129
Publications
Education:
BS (Engineering (concentration in Biomedical Computation))
Stanford University, 2006.
Ph.D (Bioengineering)
University of Pennsylvania, 2011.
MD (Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), Clinical Neuroscience Training Program )
University of Pennsylvania, 2013.
Permanent linkBS (Engineering (concentration in Biomedical Computation))
Stanford University, 2006.
Ph.D (Bioengineering)
University of Pennsylvania, 2011.
MD (Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), Clinical Neuroscience Training Program )
University of Pennsylvania, 2013.
Description of Clinical Expertise
adolescents and adults with neurodevelopmental psychiatric disordersDescription of Research Expertise
Research Interests: We integrate computational biology and functional genomics in the human brain to understand the genetic mechanisms contributing to -- and novel therapeutic targets for -- neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.Keywords: Psychiatric genetics, functional genomics, transcriptomics, human brain development, gene network biology, neurodevelopmental disorders, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), whole genome sequencing, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Research Details, Rotation Projects, Lab Personnel
See: www.gandallab.org
Selected Publications
Colbert SMC, Monson ET, Andreassen OA, Ayinde OO, Barr PB, Bejan CA, Ceja Z, Coon H, DiBlasi E, Edenberg HJ, Gelernter J, Hatoum A, Izotova A, Johnson EC, Kaufman EA, Kranzler HR, Koromina M, Lehto K, Myung W, Nurnberger JI Jr, Serretti A, Smoller JW, Stein MB, Zai CC, Erlangsen A, Gaine M, Martorell L, Sud R, Toma C, Bigdeli TB, Kimbrel NA, Ruderfer D, Docherty AR, Mann JJ, Mullins N; Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Suicide Working Group.: Defining suicidality phenotypes for genetic studies: perspectives of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Suicide Working Group. Mol Psychiatry Sep 2025.Tsai YC, Ozaki H, Wang X, Almet AA, Fleming I, Shiraiwa K, Noh MJM, Nie C, Trejo S, Sugita BK, Dalal J, Gonzalez RA, De Jesus B, Chen GL, Gandal MJ, Nie Q, Watanabe M.: Morphogen-guided neocortical organoids recapitulate regional areal identity and model neurodevelopmental disorder pathology. bioRxiv Sep 2025.
Sha Z, Sun KY, Jung B, Barzilay R, Moore TM, Almasy L, Forsyth JK, Prem S, Gandal MJ, Seidlitz J, Glessner JT, Alexander-Bloch AF.: Copy Number Variant Architecture of Child Psychopathology and Cognitive Development in the ABCD Study. Am J Psychiatry 182: 763-778, Aug 2025.
Vuong CK, Weber A, Seong P, Matoba N, Shafie B, Salinda A, Zhang P, Chen YJ, Nichterwitz S, Younesi S, Qi L, Gandal MJ, Geschwind DH, Stein JL, de la Torre-Ubieta L.: A single cell multi-omic analysis identifies molecular and gene-regulatory mechanisms dysregulated in the developing Down syndrome neocortex. bioRxiv Jul 2025.
Hernandez LM, Amirtha Ganesh SS, Gandal MJ, Fuligni AJ.: Genetic prediction of early adolescent chronotype: effects of sex and pubertal status. Sleep 48: zsaf094, Jun 2025.
Michael P Margolis, Miao Tang, Miriam Gagliardi, Cindy Wen, Yeda Wu, Naomi R Wray, Michael J Ziller, Michael J Gandal*: From Variants to Mechanisms: Neurogenomics in the Post-GWAS Era. Neuron in press, 2025.
Grotzinger AD, Werme J, Peyrot WJ, Frei O, de Leeuw C, Bicks LK, Guo Q, Margolis MP, Coombes BJ, Batzler A, Pazdernik V, Biernacka JM, Andreassen OA, Anttila V, Børglum AD, Cai N, Demontis D, Edenberg HJ, Faraone SV, Franke B, Gandal MJ, Gelernter J, Hettema JM, Jonas KG, Knowles JA, Koenen KC, Maihofer AX, Mallard TT, Mattheisen M, Mitchell KS, Neale BM, Nievergelt CM, Nurnberger JI, O'Connell KS, Robinson EB, Sanchez-Roige SS, Santangelo SL, Stefansson H, Stefansson K, Stein MB, Strom NI, Thornton LM, Tucker-Drob EM, Verhulst B, Waldman ID, Walters GB, Wray NR; Anxiety Disorders Working Group; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Working Group; Autism Spectrum Disorders Working Group; Bipolar Disorder Working Group; Eating Disorders Working Group; Major Depressive Disorder Working Group; Nicotine Dependence GenOmics (iNDiGO) Consortium; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Working Group; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Working Group; Schizophrenia Working Group; Substance Use Disorders Working Group; Tourette Syndrome Working Group; Lee PH, Kendler KS, Smoller JW.: The Landscape of Shared and Divergent Genetic Influences across 14 Psychiatric Disorders. Nature in press, 2025.
Cai N, Verhulst B, Andreassen OA, Buitelaar J, Edenberg HJ, Hettema JM, Gandal M, Grotzinger A, Jonas K, Lee P, Mallard TT, Mattheisen M, Neale MC, Nurnberger JI Jr, Peyrot WJ, Tucker-Drob EM, Smoller JW, Kendler KS.: Assessment and ascertainment in psychiatric molecular genetics: challenges and opportunities for cross-disorder research. Mol Psychiatry 2025.
Cai N, Verhulst B, Andreassen OA, Buitelaar J, Edenberg HJ, Hettema JM, Gandal M, Grotzinger A, Jonas K, Lee P, Mallard TT, Mattheisen M, Neale MC, Nurnberger JI Jr, Peyrot WJ, Tucker-Drob EM, Smoller JW, Kendler KS.: Correction: Assessment and ascertainment in psychiatric molecular genetics: challenges and opportunities for cross-disorder research. Mol Psychiatry 2025.
Aygün N, Vuong C, Krupa O, Mory J, Le BD, Valone JM, Liang D, Shafie B, Zhang P, Salinda A, Wen C, Gandal MJ, Love MI, de la Torre-Ubieta L, Stein JL.: Genetics of cell-type-specific post-transcriptional gene regulation during human neurogenesis. Am J Hum Genet 111: 1877-1898, Sep 2024.