Edenberg, Howard J

Howard J. Edenberg’s research centers on the genetics and neurobiology of substance‑use disorders, especially alcohol use disorder (AUD), using large‑scale GWAS, polygenic‑score analyses, and functional genomics. He has contributed dozens of genome‑wide risk loci for AUD, nicotine dependence, and obsessive‑compulsive disorder, demonstrated how AUD‑associated variants drive cell‑type‑specific transcriptional and chromatin changes in the human caudate (including dysregulated medium‑spiny neurons, microglia, and astrocytes), and linked polygenic risk to clinical outcomes such as suicide attempts, remission trajectories, developmental patterns of drinking, and gene‑environment interplay (e.g., genetic nurture, social support). His work also bridges genetics to mechanistic studies in human iPSC‑derived neurons and microglia, revealing how variants in genes like KCNJ6 (GIRK2) modulate neuronal excitability and ethanol responses.