Arjun Bhattacharya
Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Affiliate, Department of Institute for Data Science in Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Affiliate, Department of Institute for Data Science in Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
2020 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, US, Biostatistics, PhD |
Postgraduate Training
2020-2023 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA |
Experience & Service
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 2021 - 2023
Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Student Success & Well-Being Committee Meeting, 2024 - Present
Honors & Awards
Innovation Scholarship, Mackenzie Family Foundation | |
Training Fellowship in Breast Cancer Disparities, Susan G. Komen | |
O'Malley Alumni Award for Publication Excellence in Population Sciences, The Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | |
UCLA Bruins in Genomics Mentorship Award, UCLA Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences | |
James V. Neel Award, International Genetic Epidemiology Society | |
Most Outstanding Oral Presentation, Early Career Investigator Program, International Society for Psychiatric Genetics | |
Epstein Postdoctoral Award Semifinalist, American Society of Human Genetics | |
UCLA Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCB) Collaboratory Service Award | |
UT Rising STARs Award |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Venkateswaran, V, Boulier, K, Ding, Y, Johnson, R, Bhattacharya, A, Pasaniuc, B. Polygenic scores for tobacco use provide insights into systemic health risks in a diverse EHR-linked biobank in Los Angeles. Translational psychiatry 14(1), 2024. PMID: 38238290.
- Chang Y, Head ST, Harrison T, Yu Y, Huff CD, Pasaniuc B, Lindström S, Bhattacharya A. Isoform-level analyses of 6 cancers uncover extensive genetic risk mechanisms undetected at the gene-level. medRxiv None(None):None. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39574839.
- Hervoso, JL, Amoah, K, Dodson, J, Choudhury, M, Bhattacharya, A, Quinones-Valdez, G, Pasaniuc, B, Xiao, X. Splicing-specific transcriptome-wide association uncovers genetic mechanisms for schizophrenia. American journal of human genetics 111(8):1573-1587, 2024. PMID: 38925119.
- Xia, Y, Xia, C, Jiang, Y, Chen, Y, Zhou, J, Dai, R, Han, C, Mao, Z, Liu, C, Chen, C, Akbarian, S, Abyzov, A, Ahituv, N, Arasappan, D, Armenteros, JA, Beliveau, BJ, Bendl, J, Berretta, S, Bharadwaj, RA, Bhattacharya, A, Bicks, L, Brennand, KJ, Capauto, D, Champagne, FA, Chatterjee, T, Chatzinakos, C, Chen, Y, Chen, HI, Cheng, Y, Cheng, L, Chess, A, Chien, JF, Chu, Z, Clarke, D, Clement, A, Collado-Torres, L, Cooper, GM, Crawford, G, Daskalakis, NP, Davila-Velderrain, J, Deep-Soboslay, A, Deng, C, DiPietro, CP, Dracheva, S, Drusinsky, S, Duan, Z, Duong, D, Dursun, C, Eagles, NJ, Wang, H. Transcriptomic sex differences in postmortem brain samples from patients with psychiatric disorders. Science translational medicine 16(749), 2024. PMID: 38781321.
- Wen, C, Margolis, M, Dai, R, Zhang, P, Przytycki, PF, Vo, DD, Bhattacharya, A, Matoba, N, Tang, M, Jiao, C, Kim, M, Tsai, E, Hoh, C, Aygün, N, Walker, RL, Chatzinakos, C, Clarke, D, Pratt, HE, Peters, MA, Gerstein, M, Daskalakis, NP, Weng, Z, Jaffe, AE, Kleinman, JE, Hyde, TM, Weinberger, DR, Bray, NJ, Sěstan, N, Geschwind, DH, Roeder, K, Gusev, A, Pasaniuc, B, Stein, JL, Love, MI, Pollard, KS, Liu, C, Gandal, MJ. Cross-ancestry atlas of gene, isoform, and splicing regulation in the developing human brain. Science 384(6698), 2024. PMID: 38781368.
- Yap, CX, Vo, DD, Heffel, MG, Bhattacharya, A, Wen, C, Yang, Y, Kemper, KE, Zeng, J, Zheng, Z, Zhu, Z, Hannon, E, Vellame, DS, Franklin, A, Caggiano, C, Wamsley, B, Geschwind, DH, Zaitlen, N, Gusev, A, Pasaniuc, B, Mill, J, Luo, C, Gandal, MJ. Brain cell-type shifts in Alzheimer's disease, autism, and schizophrenia interrogated using methylomics and genetics. Science Advances 10(21), 2024. PMID: 38781333.
- Shin, DS, Basak, S, Veena, MS, Comin-Anduix, B, Bhattacharya, A, Dong, TS, Ko, A, Han, P, Jacobs, J, Moatamed, N, Avila, L, Pellegrini, M, Wang, MB, Srivatsan, ES. Enhanced CTLA-4 blockade anti-tumor immunity with APG-157 combination in a murine head and neck cancer. Cancer medicine 13(9), 2024. PMID: 38686626.
- Lo Faro, V, Bhattacharya, A, Zhou, W, Zhou, D, Wang, Y, Läll, K, Kanai, M, Lopera-Maya, EA, Straub, P, Pawar, P, Tao, R, Zhong, X, Namba, S, Sanna, S, Nolte, Im, Okada, Y, Ingold, N, MacGregor, S, Snieder, H, Surakka, I, Shortt, J, Gignoux, C, Rafaels, N, Crooks, K, Verma, A, Verma, SS, Guare, LA, Rader, DJ, Willer, CJ, Martin, AR, Brantley, MA, Gamazon, ER, Jansonius, NM, Joos, K, Cox, NJ, Hirbo, JB. Novel ancestry-specific primary open-angle glaucoma loci and shared biology with vascular mechanisms and cell proliferation. Cell Reports Medicine 5(2), 2024. PMID: 38382466.
- Levey, DF, Galimberti, M, Deak, JD, Wendt, FR, Bhattacharya, A, Koller, D, Harrington, KM, Quaden, R, Johnson, EC, Gupta, P, Biradar, M, Lam, M, Cooke, M, Rajagopal, VM, Empke, SL, Zhou, H, Nunez, YZ, Kranzler, HR, Edenberg, HJ, Agrawal, A, Smoller, J, Lencz, T, Hougaard, DM, Børglum, AD, Demontis, D, Gaziano, JM, Gandal, MJ, Polimanti, R, Stein, MB, Gelernter, J. Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder yields insight into disease biology and public health implications. Nature Genetics 55(12):2094-2103, 2023. PMID: 37985822.
- Bhattacharya, A, Vo, DD, Jops, C, Kim, M, Wen, C, Hervoso, JL, Pasaniuc, B, Gandal, MJ. Isoform-level transcriptome-wide association uncovers genetic risk mechanisms for neuropsychiatric disorders in the human brain. Nature Genetics 55(12):2117-2128, 2023. PMID: 38036788.
- Petter, E, Ding, Y, Hou, K, Bhattacharya, A, Gusev, A, Zaitlen, N, Pasaniuc, B. Genotype error due to low-coverage sequencing induces uncertainty in polygenic scoring. American journal of human genetics 110(8):1319-1329, 2023. PMID: 37490908.
- Mester, R, Hou, K, Ding, Y, Meeks, G, Burch, KS, Bhattacharya, A, Henn, B, Pasaniuc, B. Impact of cross-ancestry genetic architecture on GWASs in admixed populations. American journal of human genetics 110(6):927-939, 2023. PMID: 37224807.
- Wang, X, Lu, Z, Bhattacharya, A, Pasaniuc, B, Mancuso, N. twas_sim, a Python-based tool for simulation and power analysis of transcriptome-wide association analysis. Bioinformatics 39(5), 2023. PMID: 37099718.
- Hou, K, Ding, Y, Xu, Z, Wu, Y, Bhattacharya, A, Mester, R, Belbin, G, Buyske, S, Conti, DV, Darst, BF, Fornage, M, Gignoux, C, Guo, X, Haiman, CA, Kenny, EE, Kim, M, Kooperberg, C, Lange, L, Manichaikul, AW, North, KE, Peters, U, Rasmussen-Torvik, LJ, Rich, SS, Rotter, JI, Wheeler, HE, Wojcik, GL, Zhou, Y, Sankararaman, S, Pasaniuc, B. Causal effects on complex traits are similar for common variants across segments of different continental ancestries within admixed individuals. Nature Genetics 55(4):549-558, 2023. PMID: 36941441.
- Johnson, R, Ding, Y, Bhattacharya, A, Knyazev, S, Chiu, A, Lajonchere, C, Geschwind, DH, Pasaniuc, B. The UCLA ATLAS Community Health Initiative. Cell Genomics 3(1), 2023. PMID: 36777178.
- Wang, Y, Namba, S, Lopera, E, Kerminen, S, Tsuo, K, Läll, K, Kanai, M, Zhou, W, Wu, KH, Favé, MJ, Bhatta, L, Awadalla, P, Brumpton, B, Deelen, P, Hveem, K, Lo Faro, V, Mägi, R, Murakami, Y, Sanna, S, Smoller, J, Uzunovic, J, Wolford, BN, Wu, KH, Rasheed, H, Hirbo, JB, Bhattacharya, A, Zhao, H, Surakka, I, Lopera-Maya, EA, Chapman, SB, Karjalainen, J, Kurki, M, Mutaamba, M, Partanen, JJ, Chavan, S, Chen, TT, Daya, M, Ding, Y, Feng, YA, Gignoux, C, Graham, SE, Hornsby, WE, Ingold, N, Johnson, R, Laisk, T, Lin, K, Lv, J, Millwood, IY, Palta, P, Pandit, A. Global Biobank analyses provide lessons for developing polygenic risk scores across diverse cohorts. Cell Genomics 3(1), 2023. PMID: 36777179.
- Kanai, M, Elzur, R, Zhou, W, Wu, KH, Rasheed, H, Tsuo, K, Hirbo, JB, Wang, Y, Bhattacharya, A, Zhao, H, Namba, S, Surakka, I, Wolford, BN, Lo Faro, V, Lopera-Maya, EA, Läll, K, Favé, MJ, Partanen, JJ, Chapman, SB, Karjalainen, J, Kurki, M, Maasha, M, Brumpton, B, Chavan, S, Chen, TT, Daya, M, Ding, Y, Feng, YA, Guare, LA, Gignoux, C, Graham, SE, Hornsby, WE, Ingold, N, Ismail, SI, Johnson, R, Laisk, T, Lin, K, Lv, J, Millwood, IY, Moreno-Grau, S, Nam, K, Palta, P, Pandit, A, Preuss, M, Saad, C, Setia-Verma, S, Thorsteinsdottir, U, Uzunovic, J, Verma, A, Zawistowski, M. Meta-analysis fine-mapping is often miscalibrated at single-variant resolution. Cell Genomics 2(12), 2022. PMID: 36643910.
- Liu, W, Sun, Q, Huang, L, Bhattacharya, A, Wang, GW, Tan, X, Kuban, KC, Joseph, RM, O’Shea, TM, Fry, RC, Li, Y, Santos, HP. Innovative computational approaches shed light on genetic mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment among children born extremely preterm. Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders 14(1), 2022. PMID: 35240980.
- Johnson, R, Ding, Y, Venkateswaran, V, Bhattacharya, A, Boulier, K, Chiu, A, Knyazev, S, Schwarz, T, Freund, M, Zhan, L, Burch, KS, Caggiano, C, Hill, B, Rakocz, N, Balliu, B, Denny, CT, Sul, JH, Zaitlen, N, Arboleda, VA, Halperin, E, Sankararaman, S, Butte, MJ, Lajonchere, C, Geschwind, DH, Pasaniuc, B. Leveraging genomic diversity for discovery in an electronic health record linked biobank. Genome medicine 14(1), 2022. PMID: 36085083.
- Bhattacharya, A, Freedman, AN, Avula, V, Harris, R, Liu, W, Pan, C, Lusis, AJ, Joseph, RM, Smeester, L, Hartwell, HJ, Kuban, KC, Marsit, CJ, Li, Y, O’Shea, TM, Fry, RC, Santos, HP. Placental genomics mediates genetic associations with complex health traits and disease. Nature communications 13(1), 2022. PMID: 35121757.
- Gandal, MJ, Haney, JR, Wamsley, B, Yap, CX, Parhami, S, Emani, PS, Chang, N, Chen, GT, Hoftman, GD, de Alba, D, Ramaswami, G, Hartl, C, Bhattacharya, A, Luo, C, Jin, T, Wang, D, Kawaguchi, R, Quintero, D, Ou, J, Wu, YE, Parikshak, NN, Swarup, V, Belgard, TG, Gerstein, MB, Pasaniuc, B, Geschwind, DH. Broad transcriptomic dysregulation occurs across the cerebral cortex in ASD. Nature 611(7936):532-539, 2022. PMID: 36323788.
- Zhao, H, Rasheed, H, Nøst, TH, Cho, Y, Liu, Y, Bhatta, L, Bhattacharya, A, Hemani, G, Davey Smith, G, Brumpton, B, Zhou, W, Neale, BM, Gaunt, TR, Zheng, J. Proteome-wide Mendelian randomization in global biobank meta-analysis reveals multi-ancestry drug targets for common diseases. Cell Genomics 2(11), 2022. PMID: 36388766.
- Tsuo K, Zhou W, Kanai M, Wang Y, Namba S, Gupta R, Majara L, Nkambule LL, Morisaki T, Okada Y, Bhattacharya A, Neale BM, Meta-analysis Initiative GB, Daly MJ, Martin AR. Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of asthma identifies novel associations and highlights the value of increased power and diversity. Cell Genomics None(None):None, 2022. PMID: 36778051.
- Bhattacharya, A, Hirbo, JB, Zhou, D, Zhou, W, Zheng, J, Kanai, M, Pasaniuc, B, Gamazon, ER, Cox, NJ. Best practices for multi-ancestry, meta-analytic transcriptome-wide association studies. Cell Genomics 2(10), 2022. PMID: 36341024.
- Zhou, W, Kanai, M, Wu, KH, Rasheed, H, Tsuo, K, Hirbo, JB, Wang, Y, Bhattacharya, A, Zhao, H, Namba, S, Surakka, I, Wolford, BN, Lo Faro, V, Lopera-Maya, EA, Läll, K, Favé, MJ, Partanen, JJ, Chapman, SB, Karjalainen, J, Kurki, M, Maasha, M, Brumpton, B, Chavan, S, Chen, TT, Daya, M, Ding, Y, Feng, YA, Guare, LA, Gignoux, C, Graham, SE, Hornsby, WE, Ingold, N, Ismail, SI, Johnson, R, Laisk, T, Lin, K, Lv, J, Millwood, IY, Moreno-Grau, S, Nam, K, Palta, P, Pandit, A, Preuss, M, Saad, C, Setia-Verma, S, Thorsteinsdottir, U, Uzunovic, J, Verma, A, Zawistowski, M, Zhong, X. Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative. Cell Genomics 2(10), 2022. PMID: 36777996.
- Partanen JJ, Häppölä P, Zhou W, Lehisto AA, Ainola M, Sutinen E, Allen RJ, Stockwell AD, Leavy OC, Bhattacharya A, Oldham JM, Guillen-Guio B, Cox NJ, Hirbo JB, Schwartz DA, Fingerlin TE, Flores C, Noth I, Yaspan BL, Jenkins R, Wain LV, Ripatti S, Pirinen M, Genetics Consortium II, Meta-Analysis Initiative GB, Laitinen T, Kaarteenaho R, Myllärniemi M, Daly MJ, Koskela JT. Leveraging global multi-ancestry meta-analysis in the study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis genetics. Cell Genomics None(None):None, 2022. PMID: 36777997.
- Jones, G, Hoadley, KA, Benefield, H, Olsson, LT, Hamilton, AM, Bhattacharya, A, Kirk, EL, Tipaldos, HJ, Fleming, JM, Williams, KP, Love, MI, Nichols, HB, Olshan, AF, Troester, MA. Racial differences in breast cancer outcomes by hepatocyte growth factor pathway expression. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 192(2):447-455, 2022. PMID: 35034243.
- Jones, G, Hoadley, KA, Olsson, LT, Hamilton, AM, Bhattacharya, A, Kirk, EL, Tipaldos, HJ, Fleming, JM, Love, MI, Nichols, HB, Olshan, AF, Troester, MA. Hepatocyte growth factor pathway expression in breast cancer by race and subtype. Breast Cancer Research 23(1), 2021. PMID: 34344422.
- Bhattacharya, A, Hamilton, AM, Troester, MA, Love, MI. DeCompress. Nucleic acids research 49(8):E48, 2021. PMID: 33524140.
- Bhattacharya, A, Hamilton, AM, Furberg, H, Pietzak, E, Purdue, MP, Troester, MA, Hoadley, KA, Love, MI. An approach for normalization and quality control for NanoString RNA expression data. Briefings in bioinformatics 22(3), 2021. PMID: 32789507.
- Bhattacharya, A, Li, Y, Love, MI. MOSTWAS: Multi-Omic Strategies for Transcriptome-Wide Association Studies. PLoS genetics 17(3), 2021. PMID: 33684137.
- Santos, HP, Adynski, H, Harris, R, Bhattacharya, A, Incollingo Rodriguez, AC, Cali, R, Yabar, AT, Nephew, BC, Murgatroyd, C. Biopsychosocial correlates of psychological distress in Latina mothers. Journal of Affective Disorders 282:617-626, 2021. PMID: 33445084.
- Patel, A, Garcia-Closas, M, Olshan, AF, Perou, CM, Troester, MA, Love, MI, Bhattacharya, A. Gene-Level Germline Contributions to Clinical Risk of Recurrence Scores in Black and White Patients with Breast Cancer. Cancer Research 82(1):25-35, 2021. PMID: 34711612.
- Santos Jr HP, Bhattacharya A, Joseph RM, Smeester L, K Kuban KC, Marsit CJ, O'Shea T, Fry RC. Evidence for the placenta-brain axis: multi-omic kernel aggregation predicts intellectual and social impairment in children born extremely preterm. Molecular Autism None(None):None, 2020. PMID: 33308293.
- Bhattacharya A, García-Closas M, Olshan AF, Perou CM, Troester MA, Love MI. A framework for transcriptome-wide association studies in breast cancer in diverse study populations. Genome Biology None(None):None, 2020. PMID: 32079541.
- Santos Jr HP, Bhattacharya A, Martin EM, Addo K, Psioda M, Smeester L, Joseph RM, Hooper SR, Frazier JA, Kuban KC, O'Shea T, Fry RC. Epigenome-wide DNA methylation in placentas from preterm infants: association with maternal socioeconomic status. Epigenetics None(None):None, 2019. PMID: 31062658.
- Santos Jr HP, Nephew BC, Bhattacharya A, Tan X, Smith L, S Alyamani RA, Martin EM, Perreira K, Fry RC, Murgatroyd C. Discrimination exposure and DNA methylation of stress-related genes in Latina mothers. Psychoneuroendocrinology None(None):None, 2018. PMID: 30144780.
Other Articles
- Hou, K, Bhattacharya, A, Mester, R, Burch, KS, Pasaniuc, B On powerful GWAS in admixed populations. Nature Genetics 53(12):1631-1633, 2021. PMID: 34824480.
Grant & Contract Support
Title: | Alternative splicing and isoform expression as mediators for the genetic etiology of breast cancer |
Funding Source: | NIH |
Role: | PI |
Title: | A unified software suite to integrate genetic variation, isoform quantifications, and phenotypic associations to understand complex disease etiology |
Funding Source: | NCI |
Role: | PI |
Title: | The effects of burn pit and toxicant exposure to lung cancer risk and progression via alternative splicing and transcript-isoform expression moderation |
Funding Source: | DOD |
Role: | PI |
Title: | Understanding the contribution of placental genomics to gestational diabetes]associated childhood metabolic outcome disparities with a novel multi]ancestry transcriptomic reference |
Funding Source: | NIH: NICHD |
Role: | PI |
Title: | Multi-ancestry study of mammographic density |
Funding Source: | NCI |
Role: | Co-I |
Title: | Understanding the contribution of placental genomics to gestational diabetes-associated childhood metabolic outcome disparities with a novel multi-ancestry transcriptomic reference |
Funding Source: | NIH |
Role: | PI |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified December 16, 2024