Welcome to the Paschou Lab

Programs and Partnerships

• ENIGMA-TS: Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis for Tourette Syndrome
• TS-EUROTRAIN: A Marie Curie Initial Training Network for Tourette Syndrome
• EMTICS: European Multicentre Tics in Children Study
• The European Network for the Study of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome
• Tourette Syndrome Genetics. The Southern and Eastern Europe Initiative
• A Genomic Reference Map of Greece

We study the genetics of complex disorders as well as population structure and linkage disequilibrium patterns of human genome across worldwide populations.

• Population Genetics and Population Structure 
  
• Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome
• Multifactorial Diabetes
• Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Brain Aging

 

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

Dr Paschou leads several large-scale collaborative initiatives aiming to elucidate the cause of Tourette Syndrome. Funded by the NINDS she is a leading PI in a mega-genomewide association study for Tourette Syndrome on more than 12,000 patients. Within the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, she coordinates studies to investigate genetics across traditional diagnostic boundaries for Tourette Syndrome and highly comorbid disorders including autism, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. Dr Paschou is also the Co-Chair of the ENIGMA-TS working group (Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-analysis) aiming to bring together worldwide datasets on brain imaging and genetics for Tourette Syndrome. Dr Paschou has served as Chair of the European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome. She coordinated several large-scale projects on Tourette Syndrome including TS-EUROTRAIN (a Marie Curie Initial Training Network for Tourette Syndrome), TSGeneSEE (Tourette Syndrome Genetics. The Southern and Eastern Europe Initiative), and the COST Action entitled "European network for the study of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome" which led to the establishment of a scientific network of more than 200 investigators from 23 countries.

Population Genetics and Population Structure

The Paschou lab studies human genetic variation around the world. We have been interested in answering questions about human evolution as well as the migration patterns of the human population across the globe. We also study applications of population genetics in medical genetics. Based on the strong belief that inter-disciplinary approaches are necessary in order to produce and analyze modern genetic data that are complex in nature and massive in size, and in collaboration with computer scienticst and mathematicians, we have transferred algorithms and techniques from the fields of computer science and applied mathematics, and we have worked to translate theory to applications in the field of genetics. Through such collaborations we have developed and implemented methods that may be used to study population genetic structure at tera-scale and identify ancestry informative markers leveraging dimensionality reduction techniques. Using such algorithms we have studied the variation of human populations with a particular focus on the detection of and correction for population stratification biases in genetic association studies. Currently, we focus on the analysis of population structure around the Mediterranean basin. 

Multifactorial Diabetes

In collaboration with the Medical Schools of Democritus University of Thrace, and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Dr Paschou is currently studying the genetic basis of Type 2 Diabetes and its complications. The establishment of a large biobank of samples for the study of T2DM and diabetic nephropathy is currently underway.

Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Brain Aging

In collaboration with Prof. Gabor Kovacs from the Medical University of Vienna, we study the genomic background that drives the shift from healthy brain ageing to neurodegeneration. To do this, we investigate whole genome sequencing data on a large sample of brains from elderly individuals, collected as part of the Vienna Transdanube Aging Study.

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