Speaker: Hanna Jaaro-Peled, PhD, Schizophrenia Center, Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Moderator: Mirian Hayashi, PhD, associate professor, Department of Pharmacology, Escola Paulista de Medicina - Unifesp

Under the hypothesis that gene expression profiles of the olfactory neural epithelium may be useful to look for disease-relevant neuronal signatures, we examined microarray gene expression profiles in the neural tissue and underscored NOTCH-JAG pathway molecules in association with schizophrenia. Based on this initial finding, we have further combined an animal model study (Notch1 knockout mice) with a human multimodal study including both a clinical and molecular assessment, and obtained suggestive evidence that supports the male-specific involvement of the NOTCH-JAG pathway in social recognition.