The GWUMC Faculty Publications database tracks publications by GWUMC faculty and compiles these citations into an annual report. The report can be accessed by individual year and is arranged by department.

Citations are automatically retrieved from databases such as MEDLINE/PubMed. Faculty members can also add additional citations to the database. Full instructions on how to do this are on the Library website.

The Faculty Publications database includes references for research carried out during your time here at GWUMC. New references will appear in the live database after approval by the librarian who moderates the database. The database is moderated at least twice a year.

To obtain a username and password to add references to the database, please contact Paul Levett at mlbprl@gwumc.edu.

GWUMC's Dr. Valerie Hu is the lead author on three recently-published articles on the genetics of autism. Dr. Hu is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Her research interests focus on a systems biology approach to diagnosis, understanding, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

In Gene expression profiling of lymphoblasts from autistic and nonaffected sib pairs: Altered pathways in neuronal development and steroid biosynthesis, Dr. Hu describes a research project which compared cell lines from sibling pairs in which one sibling is affected by autism and the other sibling is not. Using DNA microarray analyses, Dr. Hu identified differences in the biochemical and signaling pathways which may help determine the pathogenesis of autism.

Dr. Hu examined an issue related to the heterogeneity of autism in the paper Novel clustering of items from the autism diagnostic interview-revised to define phenotypes within autism spectrum disorders. In this paper, Dr. Hu describes how she and her colleagues used data from an autism diagnosis instrument in order to identify relevant genetic data. The diagnostic information and the genetic data of nearly 2,000 individuals were used to identify sub-groups for which gene expression analysis can be conducted.

In another article, Gene expression profiling differentiates autism case-controls and phenotypic variants of autism spectrum disorders: Evidence for circadian rhythm dysfunction in severe autism, Dr. Hu and her colleagues compared the clinical presentation of autism with gene expression data. In this study, individuals were divided into sub-groups according to the severity of autism. By linking genetic data with the severity of autism, Dr. Hu was able to identify genes which were expressed across the sub-groups as well as genes which were expressed in specific sub-groups.

References

• Hu, V. W., Nguyen, A. T., Kim, K. S., Steinberg, M. E., Sarachana, T., Scully, M. A., et al. (2009). Gene expression profiling of lymphoblasts from autistic and nonaffected sib pairs: Altered pathways in neuronal development and steroid biosynthesis. PLoS ONE, 4(6).
• Hu, V. W., & Steinberg, M. E. (2009). Novel clustering of items from the autism diagnostic interview-revised to define phenotypes within autism spectrum disorders. Autism Research, 2(2), 67-77.
• Hu, V. W., Sarachana, T., Kyung, S. K., Nguyen, A., Kulkarni, S., Steinberg, M. E., et al. (2009). Gene expression profiling differentiates autism case-controls and phenotypic variants of autism spectrum disorders: Evidence for circadian rhythm dysfunction in severe autism. Autism Research, 2(2), 78-97.

The GWUMC Faculty Publications database tracks publications by Medical Center faculty and compiles these citations into an annual report. The report can be accessed by individual year and is organized by department.

Citations are automatically retrieved from databases such as MEDLINE/PubMed and collected by the Library's Acquisitions Department. Faculty members can also add additional citations to the database.

Beginning in the summer of 2008, the faculty publications database will be open for editing and adding citations year-round. As always, new references will not appear in the database until they have been approved by the librarian responsible for moderating the database. The database will be moderated at least twice a year.

If you have any questions about the process, or if you want to obtain a username and password to add references to the database, please contact Paul Levett at mlbprl@gwumc.edu.

You can read more about the NIH Public Access policy, and learn how the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library can help you to comply with this policy on Himmelfarb Library's Research & Publishing Portal, or by going directly to Himmelfarb Library's NIH Public Access policy webpage.

We will share more details about the implications of this policy as they become available.

Information from NIH about this policy can be accessed here.