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Dr. Marco Grados is a research scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. He is also Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Biographical Sketch:
After completing his undergraduate and medical training in Lima, Peru, Dr. Grados came to Detroit for an internship in Internal Medicine and a residency in Psychiatry at the Henry Ford Health Systems. He came to Baltimore in 1994 as Child Psychiatry Fellow, Chief Resident in Child Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and Psychiatry Faculty at KKI. Dr. Grados also obtained a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) in genetic epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. After 6 years as Medical Director of Outpatient Programs in KKI's Department of Psychiatry, overseeing the outpatient care of child psychiatry outpatients, Dr. Grados is now dedicated to genetic epidemiology research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. He obtained a five-year Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health in 2002 to study the genetics of OCD in children.
Research Summary:
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common psychiatric disorder, affecting 2-3% of children and adolescents. It consists of intrusive ideas that are distressing and persistent (obsessions), or fixed behaviors that are compulsory in nature (compulsions). Examples are excessive handwashing, checking, perfectionism, touching, counting, or hoarding. Together with Dr. Gerald Nestadt, from the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Grados is conducting a family study of OCD with child probands. Children and their relatives are interviewed to obtain a psychiatric assessment of OCD and associated disorders (phenotype). Lab tests are conducted to obtain genetic markers and test candidate genes that might cause OCD (genotype). The goal of this study is to identify the gene or genes responsible for the genetic transmission of OCD in families. Advanced statistical genetic techniques are used to associate a complex phenotype and genotype, as in other complex genetic disorders (diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and others). Endophenotypic markers under study include neuropsychology of OCD and future studies of imaging in children with OCD. Family environment variables are also of interest.
Dr. Grados collaborates with other researchers in studying developmental disabilities, including psychiatric sequelae of closed-head injury. Dr. Grados has published a paper describing a model of closed-head injury, using a large dataset of children with TBI. Other collaborations include Down syndrome, autism, Cornelia deLange syndrome and Sturge-Weber syndrome.
Recent Publications/Presentations:
Vasa R, Grados M, Slomine B, Herskovits EH, Thompson RE, Salorio C, Christensen J, Wursta C, Riddle MA, Gerring JP. Neuroimaging correlates of anxiety after pediatric traumatic brain injury. Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Feb 1;55(3):208-16.
Nestadt G, Addington A, Samuels J, Liang KY, Bienvenu OJ, Riddle MA, Grados M, Hoehn-Saric R, Cullen B. The identification of OCD-related subgroups based on comorbidity. Biol Psychiatry. 2003 May 15;53(10):914-20.
Roane HS, Piazza CC, Cercone JJ, Grados M. Assessment and treatment of vocal tics associated with Tourette's syndrome. Behav Modif. 2002 Sep;26(4):482-98.
Grados MA, Slomine B, Gerring JP, Vasa R, Bryan RN, Denckla MB. A depth of lesion model in pediatric moderate-to severe traumatic brain injury: Use of SPGR MRI to predict severity and outcome. 2001. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 70(3): 350-358.
Grados MA, Riddle MA, Samuels JF, Liang KY, Hoehn-Saric R, Bienvenu OJ, Walkup JT, Song D, Nestadt G. The familial phenotype of obsessive-compulsive disorder in relation to tic disorders: the Hopkins OCD family study. Biol Psychiatry. 2001 Oct 15;50(8):559-65.
Grados MA, Riddle MA. Pharmacological treatment of childhood OCD: from theory to practice. 2001. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology. 30(1): 67-79. |
