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Beng Choon Ho, MD

Professor of Psychiatry

Current Positions

  • Professor of Psychiatry

Education

  • MD, National University of Singapore Faculty of Medicine, Singapore
  • Resident in Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
  • Resident in Psychiatry, University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center, Iowa City, IA
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Neurobiology and Schizophrenia, Mental Health Clinic Research Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Research Interests

  • My research activities focus on studying schizophrenia pathophysiology and on elucidating neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the etiologic factors, disease susceptibility, phenotypic features and long-term course of schizophrenia. The research strategy in my work combines multidisciplinary investigative methods so as to maximize scientific discovery regarding the complex syndrome of schizophrenia. The overarching hypothesis unifying my research posits that genetic variations and environmental factors disrupt the regulation of neural cell signaling and neuroplasticity during sensitive time periods of embryonic and adolescent brain maturation leading to the diverse manifestations of schizophrenia. Ongoing projects include: 1) understanding brain maturation in adolescent biological relatives of schizophrenia probands using multimodal MR neuroimaging (brain morphometry, fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging and proton MR spectroscopy); 2) candidate gene association studies exploring how genetic polymorphisms within schizophrenia susceptibility genes are related to endophenotypic features of schizophrenia (multimodal MR neuroimaging measures and neurobehavioral assessments); 3) predictors of clinical course and outcome in schizophrenia probands. The long-term goal of my research is to develop and implement evidence-based preventive programs so as to reduce morbidity associated with schizophrenia through early identification and personalized treatment.

Licenses & Certifications

  • Royal College of Psychiatrists, United Kingdom
  • Psychiatry certification, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Iowa, Board of Medicine, Iowa

Selected Publications

  • Ho, B., Barry, A., Koeppel, J., Macleod, J., Boyd, A., David, A., O'Leary, D. (2022) Recreational marijuana use, adolescent cognitive development and schizophrenia susceptibility. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science 3 (2) 222-232. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.01.008
  • Satizabal, C. L., Adams HHH, Hibar, D. P., White, C. C., Knol, M. J., Stein, J. L., Scholz, M., Sargurupremraj, M., Jahanshad, N., Roshchupkin, G. V., Smith, A. V., Bis, J. C., Jian, X., Luciano, M., Hofer, E., Teumer, A., van der Lee, S. J., Yang, J., Yanek, L. R., Lee, T. V., Li, S., Hu, Y., Koh, J. Y., Eicher, J. D., Desrivières, S., Arias-Vasquez, A., Chauhan, G., Athanasiu, L., Rentería, M. E., Kim, S., Hoehn, D., Armstrong, N. J., Chen, Q., Holmes, A. J., den Braber, A., Kloszewska, I., Andersson, M., Espeseth, T., Grimm, O., Abramovic, L., Alhusaini, S., Milaneschi, Y., Papmeyer, M., Axelsson, T., Ehrlich, S., Roiz-Santiañez, R., Kraemer, B., Håberg, A. K., Jones, H. J., Pike, G. B., Stein, D. J., Stevens, A., Bralten, J., Vernooij, M. W., Harris, T. B., Filippi, I., Witte, A. V., Guadalupe, T., Wittfeld, K., Mosley, T. H., Becker, J. T., Doan, N. T., Hagenaars, S. P., Saba, Y., Cuellar-Partida, G., Amin, N., Hilal, S., Nho, K., Mirza-Schreiber, N., Arfanakis, K., Becker, D. M., Ames, D., Goldman, A. L., Lee, P. H., Boomsma, D. I., Lovestone, S., Giddaluru, S., Le Hellard, S., Mattheisen, M., Bohlken, M. M., Kasperaviciute, D., Schmaal, L., Lawrie, S. M., Agartz, I., Walton, E., Tordesillas-Gutierrez, D., Davies, G. E., Shin, J., Ipser, J. C., Vinke, L. N., Hoogman, M., Jia, T., Burkhardt, R., Klein, M., Crivello, F., Janowitz, D., Carmichael, O., Haukvik, U. K., Aribisala, B. S., Schmidt, H., Strike, L. T., Cheng, C. Y., Risacher, S. L., Pütz, B., Fleischman, D. A., Assareh, A. A., Mattay, V. S., Buckner, R. L., Mecocci, P., Dale, A. M., Cichon, S., Boks, M. P., Matarin, M., Penninx BWJH, Calhoun, V. D., Chakravarty, M. M., Marquand, A. F., Macare, C., Kharabian Masouleh, S., Oosterlaan, J., Amouyel, P., Hegenscheid, K., Rotter, J. I., Schork, A. J., Liewald DCM, de Zubicaray, G. I., Wong, T. Y., Shen, L., Sämann, P. G., Brodaty, H., Roffman, J. L., de Geus EJC, Tsolaki, M., Erk, S., van Eijk, K. R., Cavalleri, G. L., van der Wee NJA, McIntosh, A. M., Gollub, R. L., Bulayeva, K. B., Bernard, M., Richards, J. S., Himali, J. J., Loeffler, M., Rommelse, N., Hoffmann, W., Westlye, L. T., Valdés Hernández, M. C., Hansell, N. K., van Erp TGM, Wolf, C., Kwok JBJ, Vellas, B., Heinz, A., Olde Loohuis, L. M., Delanty, N., Ho, B. C., Ching CRK, Shumskaya, E., Singh, B., Hofman, A., van der Meer, D., Homuth, G., Psaty, B. M., Bastin, M. E., Montgomery, G. W., Foroud, T. M., Reppermund, S., Hottenga, J. J., Simmons, A., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Cahn, W., Whelan, C. D., van Donkelaar MMJ, Yang, Q., Hosten, N., Green, R. C., Thalamuthu, A., Mohnke, S., Hulshoff Pol, H. E., Lin, H., Jack, Jr, C. R., Schofield, P. R., Mühleisen, T. W., Maillard, P., Potkin, S. G., Wen, W., Fletcher, E., Toga, A. W., Gruber, O., Huentelman, M., Davey Smith, G., Launer, L. J., Nyberg, L., Jönsson, E. G., Crespo-Facorro, B., Koen, N., Greve, D. N., Uitterlinden, A. G., Weinberger, D. R., Steen, V. M., Fedko, I. O., Groenewold, N. A., Niessen, W. J., Toro, R., Tzourio, C., Longstreth, Jr, W. T., Ikram, M. K., Smoller, J. W., van Tol, M. J., Sussmann, J. E., Paus, T., Lemaître, H., Schroeter, M. L., Mazoyer, B., Andreassen, O. A., Holsboer, F., Depondt, C., Veltman, D. J., Turner, J. A., Pausova, Z., Schumann, G., van Rooij, D., Djurovic, S., Deary, I. J., McMahon, K. L., Müller-Myhsok, B., Brouwer, R. M., Soininen, H., Pandolfo, M., Wassink, T. H., Cheung, J. W., Wolfers, T., Martinot, J. L., Zwiers, M. P., Nauck, M., Melle, I., Martin, N. G., Kanai, R., Westman, E., Kahn, R. S., Sisodiya, S. M., White, T., Saremi, A., van Bokhoven, H., Brunner, H. G., Völzke, H., Wright, M. J., van 't Ent, D., Nöthen, M. M., Ophoff, R. A., Buitelaar, J. K., Fernández, G., Sachdev, P. S., Rietschel, M., van Haren NEM, Fisher, S. E., Beiser, A. S., Francks, C., Saykin, A. J., Mather, K. A., Romanczuk-Seiferth, N., Hartman, C. A., DeStefano, A. L., Heslenfeld, D. J., Weiner, M. W., Walter, H., Hoekstra, P. J., Nyquist, P. A., Fr
  • Chen, J., Calhoun, V. D., Lin, D., Perrone-Bizzozero, N. I., Bustillo, J. R., Pearlson, G. D., Potkin, S. G., van Erp TGM, Macciardi, F., Ehrlich, S., Ho, B. C., Sponheim, S. R., Wang, L., Stephen, J. M., Mayer, A. R., Hanlon, F. M., Jung, R. E., Clementz, B. A., Keshavan, M. S., Gershon, E. S., Sweeney, J. A., Tamminga, C. A., Andreassen, O. A., Agartz, I., Westlye, L. T., Sui, J., Du, Y., Turner, J. A. & Liu, J. (2018). Shared Genetic Risk of Schizophrenia and Gray Matter Reduction in 6p22.1. Schizophrenia bulletin. DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sby010. PMID: 29474680.
  • Lin, D., Chen, J., Ehrlich, S., Bustillo, J. R., Perrone-Bizzozero, N., Walton, E., Clark, V. P., Wang, Y. P., Sui, J., Du, Y., Ho, B. C., Schultz, C. S., Calhoun, V. D. & Lui, J. (2017). Cross-tissue exploration of genetic and epigenetic effects on brain gray matter in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull.
  • Chen, J., Calhoun, V. D., Pearlson, G. D., Perrone-Bizzozero, N. I., Turner, J. A., Ehrlich, S., Ho, B. C. & Liu, J. (2017). Independent component analysis of SNPs reflects polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 181 83-85. PMID: 27637363. PMCID: PMC5348276.
  • Adams, H. H., Hibar, D. P., Chouraki, V., Stein, J. L., Nyquist, P., Renteria, M. E., Trompet, S., Arias-Vasquez, A., Deary, I. J., DeCarli, C., Schmidt, H., Martin, N. G., De Craen, A. M., Wright, M. J., Gudnason, V., Schumann, G., Fornage, M., Franke, B., Debette, S., Medland, S. E., Arfan Ikram, M. & Thompson, P. M. (2016). Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association. Nat Neurosci 19 (12) 1569-1582.
  • Walton, E., Turner, J., Gollub, R. L., Manoach, D. S., Yendiki, A., Ho, B. C., Sponheim, S. R., Calhoun, V. D. & Ehrlich, S. (2013). Cumulative genetic risk and prefrontal activity in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 39 (3) 703-11. PMID: 22267534. PMCID: PMC3627773.
  • Andreasen, N. C., Liu, D., Ziebell, S., Vora, A. & Ho, B. C. (2013). Relapse Duration, Treatment Intensity, and Brain Tissue Loss in Schizophrenia: A Prospective Longitudinal MRI Study. Am J Psychiatry. PMID: 23558429.
  • Onwuameze, O. E., Nam, K. W., Epping, E. A., Wassink, T. H., Ziebell, S., Andreasen, N. C. & Ho, B. C. (2013). MAPK14 and CNR1 gene variant interactions: effects on brain volume deficits in schizophrenia patients with marijuana misuse. Psychol Med 43 (3) 619-31. PMID: 22850347.