Azmeraw Amare
Azmeraw T. Amare is a Clinical Epidemiologist and data scientist interested in precision medicine, the pharmacogenomics of antidepressants (SSRIs) & mood stabilizers (lithium), translational medicine and also in global health.
In my research, I apply novel and innovative bioinformatic techniques to identify predictors of response to treatment in psychiatric patients. I am particularly interested in the development of multivariable diagnostic or prognostic algorithms (tools) that can integrate individual’s genomic information with other predictors (e.g. omics pillars (including genomics, epigenomes, proteomics, metabolomics and microbiomes), neuroimaging and clinical characteristics) to finally predict therapeutic outcomes.
Currently, we assess the polygenic predictors of treatment response to antidepressants (SSRIs) and mood stabilizers (lithium) in patients with mood disorders. This project is being conducted in collaboration with international consortia, including the International SSRI Pharmacogenomics Consortium (ISPC), the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLi+Gen) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Appointments
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 - 2018 | PhD candidate | University of Adelaide |
Awards and Achievements
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 - 2017 | 2017 World congress of psychiatry Young Fellowship Programme | World Psychiatric Association | ||
| 2015 - 2009 | Adelaide Scholarship International (ASI) | University of Adelaide | ||
| 2014 | 19th summer institute in statistical genetics courses in Seattle | University of Washington | ||
| 2012 - 2014 | CPE-SHARE research institute, University Medical center Groningen | University of Groningen | ||
| 2011 - 2017 | CIUF-CUD Scholarship for postgraduate Study | Belgium University Commission for Development (CIUF-CUD) | ||
| 2006 | Top student and gold medal among 2006 graduates in the faculty of public health | Hawassa University |
Education
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | University of Adelaide | Australia | PhD in Medicine |
| 2014 - 2014 | University of Groningen, Groningen | Netherlands | Master of Science in Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology (Research master) |
| 2011 - 2012 | Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels | Belgium | Master in research methodology |
Certifications
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 19th Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics | University of Washington, Seattle | United States |
Research Interests
Journals
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Amare, A., Schubert, K., Klingler-Hoffmann, M., Cohen-Woods, S. & Baune, B. (2017). The genetic overlap between mood disorders and cardiometabolic diseases: A systematic review of genome wide and candidate gene studies. Translational Psychiatry, 7, 1, -. 10.1038/tp.2016.261 |
| 2017 | Nolte, I., Munoz, M., Tragante, V., Amare, A., Jansen, R., Vaez, A. ... Minassian, A. (2017). Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac disease risk. Nature Communications, 8, -. 10.1038/ncomms15805 |
| 2017 | Direk, N., Williams, S., Smith, J., Ripke, S., Air, T., Amare, A. ... Dunn, E. (2017). An Analysis of Two Genome-wide Association Meta-analyses Identifies a New Locus for Broad Depression Phenotype. Biological Psychiatry, 82, 5, 322-329. 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.11.013 |
| 2017 | Nolte, I. M., Munoz, M. L., Tragante, V., Amare, A. T., Jansen, R., Vaez, A. ... Minassian, A. (2017). Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac disease risk (vol 8, pg 15805, 2017). NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 8, -. 10.1038/ncomms16140 |
| 2016 | GBF 2015 Maternal Mortality Collaborators, , Wang, H., Amare, A., Hancock, J., Lalloo, R., Melaku, Y. & Tessema, G. (2016). Global, regional, national, and selected subnational levels of stillbirths, neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortality, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388, 10053, 1725-1774. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31575-6 |
| 2016 | GBF 2015 Maternal Mortality Collaborators, , Kassebaum, N., Amare, A., Ciobanu, L., Hancock, J., Lalloo, R. ... Tessema, G. (2016). Global, regional, and national levels of maternal mortality, 1990–2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388, 10053, 1775-1812. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31470-2 |
| 2016 | Lim, S., Allen, K., Bhutta, Z., Dandona, L., Forouzanfar, M., Fullman, N. ... Wang, H. (2016). Measuring the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries: a baseline analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388, 10053, 1813-1850. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31467-2 |
Book Chapters
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Amare, A., Schubert, & Baune, (2016). Genetic Overlap Between Depression and Cardiometabolic Disorders. In Baune & Tully (Eds.), Cardiovascular Diseases and Depression Treatment and Prevention in Psychocardiology (pp. 235-255). Switzerland: Springer. |
Conference Items
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Amare, A. T., Nigatu, Y. T., Hsu, Y. -. H., Lahti, J., Alizadeh, B. Z. & Snieder, H. (2015). A bivariate Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) of depressive symptoms and lipid levels has identified pleiotropic gene loci. Joint Meeting of the 20th Biennial Meeting of the International-Society-for-Developmental-Neuroscience / 5th Annual NeuroDevNet Brain Development Conference. Montreal, CANADA. 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2015.04.305 |