Priya Moorjani

Overview

Titles

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email
pm2730@columbia.edu

Priya Moorjani is a postdoctoral researcher in the Przeworski Lab. She has an undergraduate degree in computer engineering from University of Mumbai and MS in bioinformatics from George Washington University. She received her PhD (2013) in genetics from Harvard University (advised by David Reich and Nick Patterson). During her dissertation, she developed novel methods and approaches for analyzing genomic data to learn about population history, particularly focusing on populations of mixed ancestry such as West Eurasians and South Asians. During her postdoc, Priya is interested in investigating meiotic recombination and germline mutation in humans.

Education History

PhD, Harvard University
Genetics

MS, George Washington University
Bioinformatics

BEng, University of Mumbai
Computer Engineering

Publications

* indicates equal contribution.

Moorjani P*, Gao Z*, Przeworski M. Human germline mutation and the erratic evolutionary clock. PLoS Biol. 2016 Oct 19;14(10):e2000744. 

Moorjani P*, Amorim CE*, Arndt P, Przeworski M. Variation in the molecular clock in primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Sep 20;113(38):10607-12.

Nakatsuka N, Moorjani P, Rai N, Sarkar B, Tandon A, Patterson N, Singh L, Reich D, Thangaraj K. The promise of disease gene discovery in South Asia. 2016. In revision. Older version on BioRxiv.

Moorjani P, Sankararaman S, Fu Q, Przeworski M, Patterson N, Reich D. A genetic method for dating ancient genomes provides a direct estimate of human generation interval in the last 45,000 years. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 May 17;113(20):5652-7. 

Fu Q, Li H, Moorjani P, Jay F, Slepchenko SM, Bondarev AA, Johnson PL, Aximu-Petri A, Prüfer K, et al. Genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from western Siberia. Nature. 2014 Oct 23;514(7523):445-9. 

Yu D, Mathews CA, Scharf JM,Neale BM, Davis LK, Gamazon ER, Derks EM, Evans P, Edlund CK, Crane J, Fagerness JA, Osiecki L, Gallagher P, Gerber G,Haddad S, Illmann C, McGrath LM, Mayerfeld C, Arepalli S, Barlassina C, Barr CL, Bellodi L, Benarroch F, Berrió GB, Bienvenu OJ, Black DW, Bloch MH,Brentani H, Bruun RD, Budman CL, Camarena B, Campbell DD, Cappi C, Silgado JC, Cavallini MC, Chavira DA, Chouinard S, Cook EH, Cookson MR, Coric V, Cullen B, Cusi D, Delorme R, Denys D, Dion Y, Eapen V, Egberts K, Falkai P, Fernandez T, Fournier E, Garrido H, Geller D, Gilbert DL, Girard SL, Grabe HJ, Grados MA, Greenberg BD, Gross-Tsur V, Grünblatt E, Hardy J, Heiman GA, Hemmings SM, Herrera LD, Hezel DM, Hoekstra PJ, Jankovic J, Kennedy JL,King RA, Konkashbaev AI, Kremeyer B, Kurlan R, Lanzagorta N, Leboyer M, Leckman JF, Lennertz L, Liu C, Lochner C, Lowe TL, Lupoli S, Macciardi F, Maier W, Manunta P, Marconi M, McCracken JT, Mesa Restrepo SC, Moessner R, Moorjani P, et al. Cross-disorder genome-wide analyses suggest a complex genetic relationship between Tourette’s syndrome and OCD. Am J Psychiatry. 2015 Jan;172(1):82-93. 

Lipson M, Loh P, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Ko Y, Stoneking M, Berger B, Reich D. Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia. Nat Commun. 2014 Aug 19;5:4689.

Prüfer K, Racimo F, Patterson N, Jay F, Sankararaman S, Sawyer S, Heinze A, Renaud G, Sudmant PH, de Filippo C, Li H, Mallick S, Dannemann M, Fu Q, Kircher M, Kuhlwilm M, Lachmann M, Meyer M, Ongyerth M, Siebauer M, Theunert C, Tandon A, Moorjani P, et al. The complete genome sequence of a Neandertal from the Altai Mountains. Nature. 2014 Jan 2;505(7481):43-9.

PhD Thesis: Moorjani P. Genetic Study of Population Mixture and Its Role in Human History. 2013.

Moorjani P*, Thangaraj K*, Patterson N, Lipson M, Loh PR, Govindaraj P, Berger B, Reich D, Singh L. Genetic evidence for recent population mixture in India. Am J Hum Genet. 2013 Sep 5;93(3):422-38.

Moorjani P, Patterson N, Loh PR, Lipson M, Kisfali P, Melegh BI, Bonin M, Kádaši L, Rieß O, Berger B, Reich D, Melegh B. Reconstructing Roma history from genome-wide data. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58633.

Loh PR, Lipson M, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Pickrell JK, Reich D, Berger B. Inferring admixture histories of human populations using linkage disequilibrium. Genetics. 2013 Apr;193(4):1233-54.

Haber M, Gauguier D, Youhanna S, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Botigué LR, Platt DE, Matisoo-Smith E, Soria-Hernanz DF, Wells RS, Bertranpetit J, Tyler-Smith C, Comas D, Zalloua PA. Genome-wide diversity in the levant reveals recent structuring by culture. PLoS Genet. 2013;9(2):e1003316.

Patterson N, Moorjani P, Luo Y, Mallick S, Rohland N, Zhan Y, Genschoreck T, Webster T, Reich D. Ancient admixture in human history. Genetics. 2012 Nov;192(3):1065-93. 

Scharf J, Yu D, Matthews C, Neale BM, Stewart E, Fagerness J, Evans P, Gamazon E, Edlund C, Service K, Tikhomirov A, Osiecki L, Illmann C, Pluzhnikov A, Konkashbaev A, Davis L, Han B, Crane J, Moorjani P, et al. Genome-wide association study of Tourette's syndrome. Mol Psychiatry. 2013 Jun;18(6):721-8.

Shah AM*, Tamang R*, Moorjani P*, Rani DS, Govindaraj P, Kulkarni G, Bhattacharya T, Mustak MS, Bhaskar LV, Reddy AG, Gadhvi D, Gai PB, Chaubey G, Patterson N, Reich D, Tyler-Smith C, Singh L, Thangaraj K. Indian Siddis: African descendants with Indian admixture. Am J Hum Genet. 2011 Jul 15;89(1):154-61.

Moorjani P, Patterson N, Hirschhorn JN, Keinan A, Hao L, Atzmon G, Burns E, Ostrer H, Price AL, Reich D. The history of African gene flow into southern Europeans, Levantines, and Jews. PLoS Genet. 2011 Apr;7(4):e1001373.

Amstadter AB, Nugent NR, Yang BZ, Miller A, Siburian R, Moorjani P, Haddad S, Basu A, Fagerness J, Saxe G, Smoller JW, Koenen KC. Corticotrophin-releasing hormone type 1 receptor gene (CRHR1) variants predict posttraumatic stress disorder onset and course in pediatric injury patients. Dis Markers. 2011;30(2-3):89-99.

Blaya C, Salum GA, Moorjani P, Seganfredo AC, Heldt E, Leistner-Segal S, Smoller JW, Manfro GG. Panic disorder and serotonergic genes (SLC6A4, HTR1A and HTR2A): association and interaction with childhood trauma and parenting. Neurosci Lett. 2010 Nov 12;485(1):11-5.

Schuster SC, Miller W, Ratan A, Tomsho LP, Giardine B, Kasson LR, Harris RS, Petersen DC, Zhao F, Qi J, Alkan C, Kidd JM, Sun Y, Drautz DI, Bou_ard P, Muzny DM, Reid JG, Nazareth LV, Wang Q, Burhans R, Riemer C, Wittekindt NE, Moorjani P, et al. Complete Khoisan and Bantu genomes from southern Africa. Nature. 2010 Feb 18;463(7283):943-7.

Blaya C, Moorjani P, Salum GA, Gonçalves L, Weiss LA, Leistner-Segal S, Manfro GG, Smoller JW. Preliminary evidence of association between EFHC2, a gene implicated in fear recognition, and harm avoidance. Neurosci Lett. 2009 Mar 6;452(1):84-6.

Scharf JM, Moorjani P, Fagerness J, Platko JV, Illmann C, Galloway B, Jenike E, Stewart SE, Pauls DL; Tourette Syndrome International Consortium for Genetics. Lack of association to SLITRK1 var321 and Tourette Syndrome in a large family-based sample. Neurology. 2008 Apr 15;70(16 Pt 2):1495-6.

Perlis RH, Moorjani P, Fagerness J, Purcell S, Trivedi MH, Fava M, Rush AJ, Smoller JW. Pharmacogenetic analysis of genes implicated in rodent models of antidepression response: Association of TREK1 and treatment resistance in the STAR*D study. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008 Nov;33(12):2810-9.

Masters Thesis: Moorjani P. Analysis of Genes with κB Sites: Possible Regulation by SpNFκB in the Purple Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus. 2005. 

Terwilliger DP, Buckley KM, Mehta D, Moorjani PG, Smith LC. Unexpected diversity displayed in cDNAs expressed by the immune cells of the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Physiol Genomics. 2006 Jul 12;26(2):134-44.