Alexander (Sasha) Gusev is a computational biologist and an associate professor of medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and the

Dana Farber Cancer Institute Dana may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Dana (company), a Slovenian beverage company * Dana (payment service), in Indonesia * Dana Air, a Nigerian airline * Dana College, formerly in Nebraska, U.S. * Dana Energy, an Iranian oil and ga ...

Research and career

Alexander Gusev has developed computational methods that use genetic data to decipher disease mechanisms. For example, he has identified 34 new genes associated with increased risk of earliest-stage ovarian cancer. He has developed computational methods that integrate molecular data to facilitate functional interpretation of findings from

genome-wide association studies In genomics, a genome-wide association study (GWA study, or GWAS), is an observational study of a genome-wide set of genetic variants in different individuals to see if any variant is associated with a trait. GWA studies typically focus on assoc ...

. He has contributed to the development of the

transcriptome-wide association study Transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) is a genetic methodology that can be used to compare the genetic components of gene expression and the genetic components of a trait to determine if an association is present between the two components. TW ...

approach to mapping disease-associated genes. In addition, he studies the interactions between

germline In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that develop into germ cells. In other words, they are the cells that form gametes ( eggs and sperm), which can come together to form a zygote. They dif ...

(host) and somatic events (tumor) - which are typically studied separately - and their effects on cancer progression and treatment response to advance precision oncology.

Public Intellectual

Dr. Gusev has significantly contributed to public understanding of heritability and the refutation of scientific racism. In his book "A Molecular Genetics Perspective on the Heritability of Human Behavior and Group Differences", Gusev addresses common questions about the genetic basis of behavior and racial differences, emphasizing the complexities and limitations inherent in these topics. He argues against the misuse of genetic data to support racist ideologies, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between correlation and causation in genetic studies. Gusev also stresses the necessity of treating individuals with dignity and respect, irrespective of genetic findings. In an interview with Mother Jones, Gusev pointed out the confusion people face when racist ideas are cloaked in seemingly scientific data, emphasizing the need for critical evaluation of such claims.

Awards and honors

* Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2025 * Lenna Peltonen Prize, 2024 * Claudia Adams Barr Award, 2017-2019 * Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Postdoctoral Fellowship 2013-2015

Selected publications

* Integrative approaches for large-scale transcriptome-wide association studies. A Gusev, A Ko, H Shi, G Bhatia, W Chung, B Penninx, R Jansen, E Geus, et al. ''Nature Genetics''. 48(3):245–252. doi:10.1038/ng.3506 * Transcriptome-wide association study of schizophrenia and chromatin activity yields mechanistic disease insights. A Gusev, N Mancuso, H Won, M Kousi, HK Finucane, Y Reshef, L Song, et al. ''Nature Genetics''. 50(4):538-548. doi:10.1038/s41588-018-0092-1 * Quantifying genetic effects on disease mediated by assayed gene expression levels.Yao DW, O'Connor LJ, Price AL, Gusev A. ''Nature Genetics''. 52(6):626-633. doi:10.1038/s41588-020-0625-2 * Allele-specific epigenetic activity in prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue implicates prostate cancer risk mechanisms. Shetty A, Seo JH, Bell CA, O'Connor EP, Pomerantz MM, Freedman ML, Gusev A. ''The American Journal of Human Genetics''. 108(11):2071-2085. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.09.008 * Atlas of prostate cancer heritability in European and African-American men pinpoints tissue-specific regulation. A Gusev, H Shi, G Kichaev, M Pomerantz, F Li et al. ''Nature Communications''. doi:10.1038/ncomms10979 * Partitioning heritability of regulatory and cell-type-specific variants across 11 common diseases. A Gusev, SH Lee, G Trynka, H Finucane et al. ''The American Journal of Human Genetics''. 95(5):535-52. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.10.004 * Genetic ancestry contributes to somatic mutations in lung cancers from admixed Latin American populations. J Carrot-Zhang, G Soca-Chafre, N Patterson,..., A Gusev, M Meyerson. ''Cancer Discovery''. 11(3):591-598. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-1165

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gusev, Alexander Statistical geneticists Columbia University alumni Harvard Medical School people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people