Neil Hanchard
Jamaican physician and scientist
Neil Hanchard
Education University of the West Indies, MBBS; Oxford University, PhD; Mayo Clinic, residency; Baylor College of Medicine, clinical fellowship Awards Rhodes Scholar; Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award; MBBS with Honours Scientific career Fields genomics of complex childhood diseases; global health genomics Institutions Baylor College of Medicine; National Human Genome Research Institute
Neil Hanchard is a Jamaican physician and scientist who is clinical investigator in the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), where he leads the Childhood Complex Disease Genomics section.[ 1] Prior to joining NHGRI, he was an associate professor of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine .[ 2] He is a fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics , .[ 1] [ 3] [ 4] Hanchard's research focuses on the genetics of childhood disease, with an emphasis on diseases impacting global health.[ 2]
Early life and education
Hanchard grew up in Jamaica .[ 3] In 1999, he received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica . He then studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar .[ 1] [ 5] He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford in 2004, and completed a residency in pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in 2009. Subsequently, he completed a clinical fellowship in clinical genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine.[ 2]
Research
Hanchard's research focuses on genetic factors that can lead children to manifest especially severe symptoms of malnutrition ,[ 6] genomics of disease progression in children with HIV and tuberculosis , and genetic factors that contribute to comorbidities in sickle cell disease .[ 2] He is a member of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network , and is interested in identifying molecular diagnoses for children with uncommon genetic disease symptoms.[ 2]
In collaboration with the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) consortium, he was a senior author on a publication surveying human genetic diversity in Africa .[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] The study was published in and featured on the cover of Nature , which described the work as "a milestone in genomics research."[ 10] [ 11] In this work, they sequenced the complete genomes of 426 African individuals who belonged to 50 distinct ethnolinguistic groups , including individuals from populations that had never previously been sequenced.[ 8] [ 12] The study revealed previously unknown historical human migration patterns, for example leading to insight into the history of the Berom people of Nigeria.[ 9] It identified more than 3 million genetic variants that had not been previously observed, which could contribute to making genetic tests more accurate for people with African ancestry.[ 9] [ 8]
He has coauthored more than 70 peer reviewed articles. His papers have appeared in Nature , Science , and the American Journal of Human Genetics .[ 1]
Personal life
Hanchard is married with children.[ 3]
Selected publications
Choudhury, A., Aron, S., Botigué, L.R. et al. High-depth African genomes inform human migration and health. Nature 586, 741–748 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2859-7
Schulze, K.V., Bhatt, A., Azamian, M.S. et al. Aberrant DNA methylation as a diagnostic biomarker of diabetic embryopathy. Genet Med 21, 2453–2461 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41436-019-0516-z
Schulze, K.V., Swaminathan, S., Howell, S. et al. Edematous severe acute malnutrition is characterized by hypomethylation of DNA. Nat Commun 10, 5791 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13433-6
Retshabile, G, Mlotshwa, B.C.,Williams, L et al. Whole-Exome Sequencing Reveals Uncaptured Variation and Distinct Ancestry in the Southern African Population of Botswana. Am J Hum Genet. 102 (5), 731-743 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.03.010
Hanchard NA, Swaminathan S, Bucasas K et al. A genome-wide association study of congenital cardiovascular left-sided lesions shows association with a locus on chromosome 20 . Hum Mol Genet. 25 (11), 2331-2341 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddw071
Hanchard NA, Rockett KA, Spencer C, et al. Screening for recently selected alleles by analysis of human haplotype similarity. Am J Hum Genet. 78 (1), 153-9 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1086/499252
External Links
References
^ a b c d "Dr. Neil Hanchard joins NHGRI as a clinical investigator" . Genome.gov . Retrieved 15 February 2021 .
^ a b c d e "Neil Hanchard, M.D., Ph.D." Baylor College of Medicine . Retrieved 15 February 2021 .
^ a b c Cullinan, Sara (30 May 2018). "Inside AJHG: A Chat with Neil Hanchard" . ASHG . Retrieved 15 February 2021 .
^ "Advisory Board: Cell Genomics: Cell Genomics" . www.cell.com . Retrieved 16 February 2021 .
^ "UWI Rhodes Scholars" . UWI Alumni Online . 10 July 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2021 .
^ Schulze, Katharina V.; Swaminathan, Shanker; Howell, Sharon; Jajoo, Aarti; Lie, Natasha C.; Brown, Orgen; Sadat, Roa; Hall, Nancy; Zhao, Liang; Marshall, Kwesi; May, Thaddaeus (19 December 2019). "Edematous severe acute malnutrition is characterized by hypomethylation of DNA" . Nature Communications . 10 (1): 5791. Bibcode :2019NatCo..10.5791S . doi :10.1038/s41467-019-13433-6 . ISSN 2041-1723 . PMC 6923441 . PMID 31857576 .
^ "New Genome Sequences Reveal Undescribed African Migration" . The Scientist Magazine® . Retrieved 16 February 2021 .
^ a b c Qaiser, Farah. "Genome Analysis Of 426 Africans Finds Over 3 Million New Variants" . Forbes . Retrieved 16 February 2021 .
^ a b c " 'Unprecedented' analysis underlines past failures to study African genomes" . STAT . 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2021 .
^ "Volume 586 Issue 7831, 29 October 2020" . www.nature.com . Retrieved 16 February 2021 .
^ "Africa's people must be able to write their own genomics agenda" . Nature . 586 (7831): 644. 28 October 2020. Bibcode :2020Natur.586..644. . doi :10.1038/d41586-020-03028-3 . PMID 33116292 .
^ Choudhury, Ananyo; Aron, Shaun; Botigué, Laura R.; Sengupta, Dhriti; Botha, Gerrit; Bensellak, Taoufik; Wells, Gordon; Kumuthini, Judit; Shriner, Daniel; Fakim, Yasmina J.; Ghoorah, Anisah W. (28 October 2020). "High-depth African genomes inform human migration and health" . Nature . 586 (7831): 741–748. Bibcode :2020Natur.586..741C . doi :10.1038/s41586-020-2859-7 . ISSN 1476-4687 . PMC 7759466 . PMID 33116287 .