Assistant Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Director, Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program Course
Attending Physician in Clinical Genetics, Boston Children’s Hospital
Director, Pharmacogenomics Service
Dr. Picker graduated in Medicine from
Aberdeen University in Scotland. He followed this with training in Pediatrics
and a PhD in Molecular Biology (Agriculture), both carried out in Newcastle
upon Tyne, England. Following this he undertook clinical genetics and child and
adolescent psychiatry training at Boston Children’s Hospital where he has
stayed on as faculty.
He is focused on bringing personalized medicine into the mainstream. His research is focused on application of genomics with special reference to behavioral disorders.
At BCH, he is focused on development of
personalized medicine through leading the education of trainees (as director of
the Advanced Human Genetics Course at Harvard Medical School) as well as
directly via the co-founding and co- directorship of the BCH Pharmacogenomic
clinic, the first dedicated precision medicine clinical initiative at BCH. In
addition to clinical care, this clinic plays a central role in training and
support within and beyond the hospital.
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Director, Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program Course
Attending Physician in Clinical Genetics, Boston Children’s Hospital
Director, Pharmacogenomics Service
Dr. Picker graduated in Medicine from
Aberdeen University in Scotland. He followed this with training in Pediatrics
and a PhD in Molecular Biology (Agriculture), both carried out in Newcastle
upon Tyne, England. Following this he undertook clinical genetics and child and
adolescent psychiatry training at Boston Children’s Hospital where he has
stayed on as faculty.
He is focused on bringing personalized medicine into the mainstream. His research is focused on application of genomics with special reference to behavioral disorders.
At BCH, he is focused on development of
personalized medicine through leading the education of trainees (as director of
the Advanced Human Genetics Course at Harvard Medical School) as well as
directly via the co-founding and co- directorship of the BCH Pharmacogenomic
clinic, the first dedicated precision medicine clinical initiative at BCH. In
addition to clinical care, this clinic plays a central role in training and
support within and beyond the hospital.
Journal article
WD40 and SOCS box protein-2 (WSB2), a member of the large family of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-box proteins, has recently been identified as a substrate receptor of cullin 5 E3 ligase that plays an important role in proteomic regulation through substrate ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Here we report five patients from four unrelated families presenting with neurodevelopmental delay, dysmorphic features, brain structural abnormalities with or without growth restriction,...
Journal article
Toxins TcdA and TcdB are the main virulence factors of Clostridioides difficile, a leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea. Despite their importance, there is a significant knowledge gap of druggable targets for inhibiting toxin production. To address this, we screened nonantibiotic phytochemicals to identify potential chemical genetic probes to discover antivirulence drug targets. This led to the identification of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (enoxolone), a licorice metabolite, as an inhibitor...