Laboratory of Harrison Brand, PhD
Email: hbrand1@mgh.harvard.edu
Overview
The Brand Lab focuses on developing and applying novel computational approaches and cloud-based analytical frameworks to better understand how genetic variation contributes to complex developmental disorders. We leverage whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to generate high-resolution maps of genetic variation across a wide spectrum of diseases. A central area of expertise in the lab is the development of new methods for detecting and interpreting structural variation (SV) from WGS data. More recently, we have expanded our research to explore the diagnostic potential of WGS and other emerging sequencing technologies in prenatal and maternal health, through close collaborations with investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Research Projects
Characterizing the genetic etiology of structural birth defects (SBD) and neurodevelopment disorders (NDD)
- Aggregate large cohorts of genomic data across various SBD and NDD cohorts.
- Perform gene discovery within and across phenotypes in these datasets.
Development of novel SV detection methods in WGS
- We are active members in the Broad Institute’s Structural Variation group charged with designing new methods for SV detection in Illumina and long read data.
- We are among the primary architects of the ensemble SV caller - GATK-SV.
Assessment of the contribution of SV to broader human diseases
- Investigate the impact of SV on numerous diseases and traits.
- Develop novel methods for SV association studies.
Genomic Diagnostics
- Compare the feasibility and utility of WGS as a diagnostic tool.
- Improve functional annotation for SV in clinical settings.
Generation of SV population references
- Generation of SVs across diverse populations including gnomAD and 1000 genomes.
- Public release of SV callsets for benchmarking, population genetic studies, clinical screening, and genetic association analyses.