Substance Abuse Disorders

Researchers at Whitehead Institute are developing models and approaches that capture more of the rich context in which biological processes are typically immersed, in order to learn more about them and their roles in health and disease. Learn more about how their work is revealing new insights that only become apparent when studying a process within the context of larger systems in which it operates.

Whitehead Institute Member Olivia Corradin and colleagues have developed a system to find patterns in seemingly random differences between the genomes of people affected and unaffected by a disease. They can use these patterns to identify genes that contribute to complex diseases and disorders, such as opioid use disorder.

Read about brain-related research at Whitehead Institute.

On this episode of AudioHelicase podcast, Whitehead Fellow Olivia Corradin talked about investigating the genetic underpinnings of diseases through a new technique she developed, the outside variant approach. Applying the method to study the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), Corradin and colleagues identified a role for a cell type in the brain in MS, offering a new way of understanding the disease.