Derek Hawes

Cell villages and Dirichlet modeling map human cell fitness genetics

The paper introduces a cell village-based fitness screening approach and a Dirichlet regression framework to analyze genetic factors affecting cell proliferation and environmental sensitivity in human neural progenitor cells.

Gene editing in "cell villages" enables exploring disease-relevant mutations in many genetic backgrounds

The paper uses village editing to study how genetic backgrounds affect the impact of schizophrenia-associated mutations in human neurons.

Human genetic variation shapes the response of neurons to interferons

The paper identifies genetic variants that influence neuronal responses to interferons by analyzing gene expression and STAT1 binding in iPSC-derived neurons.

A foundational neuronal protein network model unifying multimodal genetic, transcriptional, and proteomic perturbations in schizophrenia.

The paper identifies three neuron-specific schizophrenia protein networks enriched for genetic and transcriptional perturbations and validates their disruption in 22q11.2 deletion carriers.

Combining NeuroPainting with transcriptomics reveals cell-type-specific morphological and molecular signatures of the 22q11.2 deletion

The paper introduces NeuroPainting, a morphological phenotyping method, and combines it with transcriptomics to identify cell-type-specific effects of the 22q11.2 deletion on mitochondrial structure and gene expression in astrocytes.

The 22q11.2 region regulates presynaptic gene-products linked to schizophrenia

This study investigates how the 22q11.2 deletion affects gene expression in neural progenitor cells and neurons, linking it to schizophrenia risk through altered presynaptic gene products.

Natural variation in gene expression and Zika virus susceptibility revealed by villages of neural progenitor cells

The paper identifies a common genetic variant in IFITM3 that explains most inter-individual variation in neural progenitor cell susceptibility to Zika virus using natural genetic variation and synthetic perturbations.

Mapping genetic effects on cellular phenotypes with "cell villages"

Census-seq pools cells from >100 human donors into "cell villages" and quantifies donor DNA before and after selection to map genetic effects on cellular traits.

Computational correction of copy-number effect improves specificity of CRISPR-Cas9 essentiality screens in cancer cells

The paper develops CERES, a computational method to correct copy-number effects in CRISPR-Cas9 essentiality screens, improving specificity in cancer cell line studies.