Eric Morrow

About

Eric M. Morrow is the Mencoff Family Professor of Biology, as well as a Professor of Brain Science, Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. He received his PhD in genetics and neurodevelopment from Harvard University, his MD from the Health Science Training Program at MIT and Harvard Medical School, and completed further clinical and scientific training in neurology and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying disorders of cognitive development, such as autism and intellectual disability. The laboratory investigates mechanisms in neuronal organelles, including endosomes, lysosomes, and mitochondria, as well as neurometabolism, with a particular emphasis on novel human neurogenetic syndromes like Christianson Syndrome and GPT2 Deficiency. These studies aim to understand mechanisms of neuronal vulnerability and neurodegeneration, and to develop molecular therapies for neurogenetic disorders. His work has been funded by NIMH, NINDS, and NIA. Dr. Morrow's research bridges campus and medical school efforts at Brown, and he is actively involved in mentoring students and junior faculty, with a focus on translating genetic and molecular insights into improved diagnosis and treatment interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research topics

• Genetics
• Biology
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Neuroscience
• Demography
• Environmental health
• Evolutionary biology
• Pathology
• Developmental psychology

Selected publications

• Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism

  Cell · 2020 · 2401 citations

  We present the largest exome sequencing study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to date (n = 35,584 total samples, 11,986 with ASD). Using an enhanced analytical framework to integrate de novo and case-control rare variation, we identify 102 risk genes at a false discovery rate of 0.1 or less. Of these genes, 49 show higher frequencies of disruptive de novo variants in individuals ascertained to have severe neurodevelopmental delay, whereas 53 show higher frequencies in individuals ascertained t…

  DOI

• Autism Heterogeneity in a Densely Sampled U.S. Population: Results From the First 1,000 Participants in the RI‐CART Study

  Autism Research · 2020 · 52 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The objective of this study was to establish a large, densely sampled, U.S. population-based cohort of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment (RI-CART) represents a unique public-private-academic collaboration involving all major points of service for families in Rhode Island affected by ASD. Diagnosis was based on direct behavioral observation via the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition. For the first 1,000 pa…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Human neurons from Christianson syndrome iPSCs reveal mutation-specific responses to rescue strategies

  Science Translational Medicine · 2021 · 31 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  exchanger 6 (NHE6). To hasten treatment development, we established induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from patients with CS representing a mutational spectrum, as well as biologically related and isogenic control lines. We demonstrated that pathogenic mutations lead to loss of protein function by a variety of mechanisms: The majority of mutations caused loss of mRNA due to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay; however, a recurrent, missense mutation (the G383D mutation) had both loss-of-functio…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A deep learning model for prediction of autism status using whole-exome sequencing data

  PLoS Computational Biology · 2024-11-08 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Autism is a developmental disability. Research demonstrated that children with autism benefit from early diagnosis and early intervention. Genetic factors are considered major contributors to the development of autism. Machine learning (ML), including deep learning (DL), has been evaluated in phenotype prediction, but this method has been limited in its application to autism. We developed a DL model, the Separate Translated Autism Research Neural Network (STAR-NN) model to predict autism status.…

  PublisherDOI

• 17q12 deletion syndrome mouse model shows defects in craniofacial, brain and kidney development, and glucose homeostasis

  Disease Models & Mechanisms · 2022-11-14 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  17q12 deletion (17q12Del) syndrome is a copy number variant (CNV) disorder associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and renal cysts and diabetes syndrome (RCAD). Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, we generated a mouse model of 17q12Del syndrome on both inbred (C57BL/6N) and outbred (CD-1) genetic backgrounds. On C57BL/6N, the 17q12Del mice had severe head development defects, potentially mediated by haploinsufficiency of Lhx1, a gene within the interval that controls head development. Phenoty…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Mechanisms of circuit failure and treatments in patient-derived neurons in autism

  NIH · $2.8M · 2014–2021

• Mechanisms of Disease and Treatment in Novel Metabolic Developmental Brain Disorders

  NIH · $3.2M · 2021–2026

• NIH Grant K23MH080954

  NIH · $920k · 2012

Frequent coauthors

• M Schmidt

  Brown University

  197 shared

• Matthew F. Pescosolido

  Brandeis University

  160 shared

• Christopher A. Walsh

  Mount Sinai Hospital

  154 shared

• Li Ma

  Brown University

  113 shared

• Brian C. Kavanaugh

  Brown University

  107 shared

• Ece D. Gamsiz Uzun

  John Brown University

  102 shared

• Qing Ouyang

  Brown University

  94 shared

• Jennifer N. Partlow

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  88 shared

Labs

• Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain SciencePI

Education

• Ph.D., genetics and neurodevelopment

  Harvard University

• M.D., Health Science Training (HST) Program

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School

Awards & honors

• 2011-2012 Psychiatry Research Mentor Award from the Departme…

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