msodhi@uab.edu 
UAB News features Dr. Sodhi and her work.
You can find the article and video here.
Civitan International Research Center, 590C
1720 7th Ave. South
Birmingham, Al 35294
Phone: 205-996-6229
Education:
- Bachelor of Pharmacy, London School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK 1992
- Master of Science (Neuroscience) Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK 1993
- Ph.D. (Genetics) Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK 2000
- Postdoctoral fellowship (MRC), University of Oxford, UK 1999-2003
Background:
Dr. Sodhi joined the Department of Psychiatry in August 2007 as an Assistant Professor. As a postdoctoral trainee in the laboratory of Professor Paul Harrison, she successfully applied for a Medical Research Council fellowship which funded her work with Dr. Elaine Sanders-Bush at the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. Since her arrival in the United States Dr. Sodhi has received Young Investigator Awards from the National Alliance of Research into Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD, 2004 and 2006), the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP, 2008) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP, 2009).
Research focus:
Dr. Sodhi's laboratory investigates the contribution of genetic and post-transcriptional variation to the etiologies of psychosis, depression and suicide, and how these may impact treatment response in patients. Considering the statistic that one American commits suicide every 16 minutes, and because suicide is a tragic consequence of several psychiatric disorders, research is focusing on identifying genetic predictors for suicide risk. Psychiatric disorders are predicted to be caused by multiple genes and also multiple non-genetic, possibly environmental factors. Therefore genes which are influenced by environmental stress are of special interest to our work. Our current work focuses on the genes influencing RNA editing, which is a post-transcriptional process shown to be induced by stress. RNA editing has a profound impact on the function of many centrally active proteins, including several glutamate receptor subunits, the serotonin2C (5-HT2C) receptor, the potassium channel Kv1.1, the GABAα3 receptor subunit in addition to 16% of identified microRNAs. We are investigating the interactions of genetic and transcriptional variation in the postmortem brains of psychiatric patients in collaboration with Dr. Joel Kleinman (NIMH), and also in a large cohort of African American schizophrenia patients in collaboration with Drs. Rodney Go and Robert Savage (UAB). These studies aim to identify markers of suicide risk in addition to finding new targets for improved drug therapy.
People in the lab:
Anita Pinner BS, Research Assistant
Kavita Nadendla, Undergraduate Student
Academic Appointments:
Assistant Professor, UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology
Assistant Professor, UAB Department of Neurobiology
Selected publications:
Roth T, Lubin F, Sodhi MS and Kleinman J E (2009). Epigenetics and schizophrenia. BBA (in press).
Sodhi MS, Wood KH, Meador-Woodruff J (2008). Role of glutamate in schizophrenia: integrating excitatory avenues of research. Exp Review Neurother 8(9), 1389-1406.
Hackler E, Airey D, Shannon C, Sodhi MS, Sanders-Bush E (2006): 5-HT2C receptor RNA editing in the amygdala of inbred strains: implications for anxiety and fear. Neurosci Res 55(1):96-104.
Sodhi MS, Airey D, Lambert W, Burnet PWJ, Harrison PJ and Sanders-Bush E. (2005) A rapid new assay to detect RNA editing reveals antipsychotic-induced changes in serotonin-2C transcripts. Mol Pharmacol 68: 711-719.
Sodhi MS and Sanders-Bush E. (2004) Serotonin and disorders of brain development. Int Rev Neurobiol.59: 111-174.
Pooley, E, Fairburn C, Cooper Z, Sodhi MS, Harrison, PJ. (2004) A 5-HT2C receptor promoter polymorphism (HTR2C - 759C/T) is associated with obesity in women, and with resistance to weight loss in heterozygotes. Am J Med Genet (Neuropsychiat Genet). 126B: 124-7.
Tunbridge, E., Burnet PWJ, Sodhi MS, Harrison PJ (2004). "Catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) and proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) mRNAs in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression." Synapse 51(2):112-8.
Sodhi MS, Burnet PJ, Makoff AJ and Harrison PJ.(2001): Reduced mRNA editing of the human 5-HT2C receptor in schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry, 6 (4), 373-9.
Arranz MJ, Munro J, Birkett J, Bolonna A, Mancama D, Sodhi MS, et al. (2000): Pharmacogenetic prediction of clozapine response. Lancet 355: 1615 - 1616.
Sodhi MS and Murrray RM (1997): Future therapies for schizophrenia. Exp Opin Ther Patents 7(2):151-165.
Arranz MJ, Erdmann J, Kirov G, Rietschel M, Sodhi MS, et al (1997). 5-HT2A receptor and bipolar affective disorder: Association studies in affected patients. Neurosci Lett 224 (2): 95-98.
Collier D, Arranz M, Sham P, Battersby S, Gill P, Aitchison KJ, Sodhi MS, et al. (1996): The serotonin transporter is a potential susceptibility factor for bipolar affective disorder. NeuroReport 7:1675-1679.
Arranz MJ, Collier DA, Munro J, Sham P, Kirov G, Sodhi MS, Roberts GW, Price J and Kerwin RW (1996): Analysis of a structural polymorphism in the 5-HT2A receptor and clinical response to clozapine. Neuroscience Letters 217:177-178.
Sodhi MS, Arranz MJ, Curtis DA, Sham PC, Ball DM, Roberts GW, Price J, Collier DA and Kerwin RW (1995): Association between clozapine response and allelic variation in the 5-HT2C receptor gene. NeuroReport 7: 369-375.
Arranz MJ, Collier D, Sodhi MS, Ball DM, Roberts GW, Price J, Sham P and Kerwin RW. (1995): Association between clozapine response and allelic variation in the 5-HT2A receptor gene. Lancet, 346: 281-282.