Henry R Kranzler

About

Henry R Kranzler, MD, is the Karl E. Rickels Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He serves as Co-Associate Director of Research at the VISN 4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (VAMC) and is the Director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at PSOM. His professional focus is on addiction research, with particular emphasis on alcohol use disorder, opioid use, and nicotine dependence. Dr. Kranzler's work involves investigating the genetic and biological underpinnings of substance use disorders, including conducting large-scale meta-analyses and genome-wide association studies. His research aims to understand the genetic contributions to addiction and related traits, contributing to the development of targeted treatments and interventions.

Research topics

• Biology
• Medicine
• Genetics
• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Clinical psychology
• Internal medicine
• Neuroscience
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• Genome-wide association study of more than 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides new insights into the underlying biology

  Nature Genetics · 2021 · 1557 citations

  Bipolar disorder is a heritable mental illness with complex etiology. We performed a genome-wide association study of 41,917 bipolar disorder cases and 371,549 controls of European ancestry, which identified 64 associated genomic loci. Bipolar disorder risk alleles were enriched in genes in synaptic signaling pathways and brain-expressed genes, particularly those with high specificity of expression in neurons of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Significant signal enrichment was found in ge…

  DOI

• Genome-wide meta-analysis of problematic alcohol use in 435,563 individuals yields insights into biology and relationships with other traits

  Nature Neuroscience · 2020 · 402 citations

  Problematic alcohol use (PAU) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Although genome-wide association studies have identified PAU risk genes, the genetic architecture of this trait is not fully understood. We conducted a proxy-phenotype meta-analysis of PAU, combining alcohol use disorder and problematic drinking, in 435,563 European-ancestry individuals. We identified 29 independent risk variants, 19 of them novel. PAU was genetically correlated with 138 phenotypes, including sub…

  DOI

• A large-scale genome-wide association study meta-analysis of cannabis use disorder

  The Lancet Psychiatry · 2020 · 375 citations

  BACKGROUND: Variation in liability to cannabis use disorder has a strong genetic component (estimated twin and family heritability about 50-70%) and is associated with negative outcomes, including increased risk of psychopathology. The aim of the study was to conduct a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify novel genetic variants associated with cannabis use disorder. METHODS: To conduct this GWAS meta-analysis of cannabis use disorder and identify associations with genetic loci,…

  DOI

• Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction

  Nature Neuroscience · 2021 · 329 citations

  DOI

• Multivariate genome-wide association meta-analysis of over 1 million subjects identifies loci underlying multiple substance use disorders

  Nature Mental Health · 2023 · 225 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Penn PET Addiction Center of Excellence (Penn PACE)

  NIH · $19.1M · 2019–2025

• NIH Grant R01AA011062

  NIH · $1.4M · 2002

• NIH Grant R01DA018432

  NIH · $3.5M · 2012

Frequent coauthors

• Joel Gelernter

  1809 shared

• Lindsay A. Farrer

  Framingham Heart Study

  532 shared

• Jonathan Covault

  University of Connecticut

  391 shared

• Raymond F. Anton

  Medical University of South Carolina

  331 shared

• Renato Polimanti

  330 shared

• Rachel L. Kember

  305 shared

• Hongyu Zhao

  Jilin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine

  271 shared

• Hang Zhou

  Sun Yat-sen University

  231 shared

Labs

• Kranzler LabPI

Education

• Psychiatric Residency, Psychiatry

  University of Connecticut School of Medicine

  1986

• M.D.

  Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

  1982

Awards & honors

• Karl E. Rickels Professor of Psychiatry
• Director, Center for Studies of Addiction (PSOM)

Similar researchers at University of Pennsylvania

• John Q. Trojanowskih-296
• Craig B. Thompsonh-277
• Daniel J Raderh-236