Kai-florian Storch
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry
McGill University
Canada
Biography
Dr. Storch joined the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in June 2008 after completing his postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, where he explored the biological role of circadian clocks, internal timers that generate rhythms with a period of 24 hours. His research contributed to the current understanding that the circadian timing system in mammals is made up of a multitude of intrinsic clocks that are distributed throughout the body, including the brain. Dr. Storch showed that these clocks typically control more than 10% of the genes expressed in a given tissue, suggesting that many biological processes must be clock-regulated. Dr. Storch’s research program aims to elucidate the functional significance of this multi-oscillator timing system by employing genetic mouse models. He will examine mice that lack circadian clock function in selected tissues or organs for deficits in physiology and behaviour. It is believed that circadian clocks in the central nervous system play important roles in the control of various brain functions, including the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, locomotion, body weight, reproduction, and reward processing. Dr. Storch plans to rigorously examine these links by genetically manipulating clock function in selected brain structures. Dr. Storch’s research may yield fundamental insights into how our internal 24-hour timers affect the nervous system and may thus pave the way for new concepts to tackle mental disorders and other brain dysfunctions.
Research Interest
Circadian rhythms, mouse genetics
Publications
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DCC Confers Susceptibility to Depression-like Behaviors in Humans and Mice and Is Regulated by miR-218. Torres-BerrÃo A, Lopez JP, Bagot RC, Nouel D, Dal Bo G, Cuesta S, Zhu L, Manitt C, Eng C, Cooper HM, Storch KF, Turecki G, Nestler EJ, Flores C.
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Enhancing circadian clock function in cancer cells inhibits tumor growth. Kiessling S, Beaulieu-Laroche L, Blum ID, Landgraf D, Welsh DK, Storch KF, Labrecque N, Cermakian N.
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Guidelines for Genome-Scale Analysis of Biological Rhythms. Hughes ME, Abruzzi KC, Allada R, Anafi R, Arpat AB, Asher G, Baldi P, de Bekker C, Bell-Pedersen D, Blau J, Brown S, Ceriani MF, Chen Z, Chiu JC, Cox J, Crowell AM, DeBruyne JP, Dijk DJ, DiTacchio L, Doyle FJ, Duffield GE, Dunlap JC, Eckel-Mahan K, Esser KA, FitzGerald GA, Forger DB, Francey LJ, Fu YH, Gachon F, Gatfield D, de Goede P, Golden SS, Green C, Harer J, Harmer S, Haspel J, Hastings MH, Herzel H, Herzog ED, Hoffmann C, Hong C, Hughey JJ, Hurley JM, de la Iglesia HO, Johnson C, Kay SA, Koike N, Kornacker K, Kramer A, Lamia K, Leise T, Lewis SA, Li J, Li X, Liu AC, Loros JJ, Martino TA, Menet JS, Merrow M, Millar AJ, Mockler T, Naef F, Nagoshi E, Nitabach MN, Olmedo M, Nusinow DA, PtáÄek LJ, Rand D, Reddy AB, Robles MS, Roenneberg T, Rosbash M, Ruben MD, Rund SSC, Sancar A, Sassone-Corsi P, Sehgal A, Sherrill-Mix S, Skene DJ, Storch KF, Takahashi JS, Ueda HR, Wang H, Weitz C, Westermark PO, Wijnen H, Xu Y, Wu G, Yoo SH, Young M, Zhang EE, Zielinski T, Hogenesch JB
