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Dr. Renato Polimanti is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and he also has appointments in Biomedical Informatics & Data Science, as well as Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the Wu Tsai Institute. Renato completed his bachelor’s degree (BSc), Master’s degree (MSc), and PhD at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Afterwards, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Yale University School of Medicine before joining the faculty at Yale. He has received a variety of awards and honors for his work, including the One Mind Rising Star Computational Psychiatry Research Award, an Explorers Award from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the Early Career Investigator Award from the Million Veteran Program, and Young Investigator Awards from the journal Genes, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and the International Society of Applied Biological Sciences. In our interview, Renato shares more about his life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:34)
Some of Renato’s favorite pastimes include reading, traveling to different countries, and trying various kinds of foods. He is a big fan of authentic Italian food as well as sushi, and Renato has explored many of the local restaurants in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Scientific Side (6:24)
Research in Renato’s lab examines human genetics from different perspectives. His current projects aim to understand the molecular mechanisms that predispose certain individuals to develop psychiatric disorders and symptoms, and the links between co-morbid conditions like cardiovascular disease. He is particularly interested in internalizing psychiatric disorders, which include depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A Dose of Motivation (10:33)
“Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
What Got You Hooked on Science? (13:47)
Renato didn’t have any scientists or academics in his family growing up, but as he learned more about academic careers in college and in his master’s program, he realized that this path would allow him to spend much of his time thinking about fundamental issues, developing his own ideas, and contributing to solutions. In college, Renato was very interested in anthropology and human evolution. Being in a biology program allowed him to connect anthropology with molecular biology and genetics. Later in graduate school, Renato had the opportunity to conduct research on human disease, and his first project focused on asthma and links between asthma and cardiovascular disease. Performing all aspects of the research, including working with participants, genotyping at the lab bench, and running data analyses was a good experience. He also began working on the genetics of psychiatric disorders during his PhD, bringing together his interests in human evolution and genetic predisposition for disease. Renato continues to work in this area, drawing from his broad experience and interdisciplinary collaborations.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (22:18)
One of the biggest challenges in Renato’s career happened at the very beginning. In his master’s program, he participated in every step of the research project, including a lot of pipetting at the lab bench. The lab was scaling up the number of genetic samples they were analyzing, and this introduced some issues with contamination, where DNA from other sources ended up in their samples. He and the other lab members spent months troubleshooting and trying to clean up the lab environment and organize their processes to find solutions to improve the quality of their data. It was a major struggle, and Renato started questioning whether he had what it would take to be a scientist. Eventually, they got things working well, and Renato’s persistence paid off. Now, he is a computational biologist, so he primarily works on his computer with large sets of molecular and clinical data, rather than at the bench.
A Shining Success! (25:39)
Recently, Renato published a study where he and his lab members performed a large genetic study on anxiety disorders that involved data from approximately 1.2 million individuals. They were thrilled to get access to the large data set used in the study, and the analyses were all done within Renato’s lab group. It was particularly rewarding to train his lab members, see them learn new skills, and have them contribute to this study. In the study, they identified more than one hundred genes associated with anxiety, and this is an important step that could help lead to the development of new treatments in the future. It was exciting when the study was published, and they have received great feedback from scientists around the world.
Book Recommendations (4:12)
The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome by Georgina Ferry and John Sulston
Most Treasured Travel (29:26)
Japan is one of Renato’s favorite countries that he has been able to visit for science. He traveled there for three weeks to attend two different conferences, and it was an amazing experience. There was tons of history to take in, the food was delicious, and the people he met were great. He spent the first week attending a conference in Tokyo, then he had a week off to explore before the next conference began in Kumamoto, a city in the southwest of the country. Renato was struck by how the Japanese cities harmoniously wove together ancient temples and modern buildings. The conferences were excellent, and he enjoyed meeting many other scientists from different countries.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (32:45)
When Renato was working on his PhD in Italy, the department had a tradition where some of the labs got together for lunch on Fridays. Rather than eat in the university’s dining area, they went out for lunch somewhere nearby. In Rome, people typically eat fish on Fridays, so nearly every Friday, the group ordered fried calamari and spaghetti with clams. It was fun to hang out talking about their research and their lives and getting to know each other better.
Advice For Us All (36:55)
Be persistent and resilient. Science takes time, and scientists have to deal with a lot of rejection. Make sure you listen to others, but also trust yourself, and don’t be afraid to pursue your own ideas. Hard work pays out, and it’s important to remember your long-term goals, even if you aren’t seeing results right now.
Guest Bio
Renato’s research is focused on understanding how human genome variation can predispose certain individuals to develop psychiatric disorders, behavioral traits, and other health outcomes. His expertise comes from a variety of fields such as molecular epidemiology, data science, and biological psychiatry. Currently, Renato and his collaborators are trying to understand how mental health affects physical health and vice versa. As part of this work, his group has been leveraging genomic, clinical, and imaging data collected from millions of participants recruited in the US and around the world. When he is not working, Renato likes to slow down reading a nice book or trying new restaurants. While traveling for work, he also enjoys taking some time to visit new countries and learn about diverse cultures.