Education

• Virginia Commonwealth University, 2019, PhD
• University of Virginia, 2012, BA

Certifications

ASCP Certified Cytogenetics Technologist (2013-present)

Research Interests

• Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetic Epidemiology
• Epidemiology and Nosology of Perinatal Psychopathology
• Leveraging Multidimensional Data (e.g., Electronic Health Records, PsychENCODE, PHANTOM, 1KGP) to Explore Genetic, Epigenetic, and Environmental Influences on Complex Trait Development
• Open Science Software Development
• Ethical Data Visualization Practices

Research Description

The primary focus of my research is understanding how inter-individual differences in genetic factors and environmental exposures jointly contribute to variance in the risk, presentation, and severity of complex traits like perinatal depression and preterm birth. The work has supported a strong interest in using, developing, and promoting open science methods to increase the credibility and reproducibility of biomedical research findings. As part of the Data Science Laboratory at VCU, I have been able to invest substantial effort in promoting open science methodology through course work, seminars, and consultations. I am particularly excited about academic outreach programs like the ReproducibiliTea journal club, which will begin in the Spring 2020.

Awards

• 2024 Outstanding Departmental Teacher Award in Health Sciences Education (Human and Molecular Genetics)
• 2024 Rigor Champions Prize—Winner; Team Leader (NINDS/NIH)
• 2021 Outstanding Departmental Teacher Award in Health Sciences Education (Human and Molecular Genetics)
• 2020 Roscoe D. Hughes Award, Virginia Commonwealth University

Selected Publications

Lapato, D. M., Peterson, R. E., Achtyes, E. D., Buckley, P. F., Fanous, A. H., Lehrer, D. S., Nicolini, H., Malaspina, D., Rapaport, M. H., GPC Investigators, Kendler, K. S., Pato, M., Pato, C., & Bigdeli, T. B. (2025). Latent class analysis of symptoms across schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar I disorder. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2025.10.31.25339091. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.31.25339091

Brumback, A. C., Ngiam, W. X. Q., Lapato, D. M., Allison, D. B., Daniels, C. L., Dougherty, M., Hazlett, H. F., Kerr, K. L., Pusek, S., Schrag, N., & NINDS workshop Catalyzing Communities of Research Rigor Champions (2024). Catalyzing communities of research rigour champions. Brain communications, 6(3), fcae120. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae120

Frye, R. L., Lapato, D. M., Sikes-Keilp, C., Pinkerton, J. V., Payne, J. L., Yakovlev, V., & Roberson-Nay, R. (2026). Neuron-Enriched Extracellular Vesicle MicroRNAs Reflect Hormone-Sensitive Neural Pathway Changes from Early to Late Perimenopause. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026.04.24.26351678. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.24.26351678

Davis, S. M., Liu, A., Teerlink, C. C., Lapato, D. M., Gorman, B., Genovese, G., Singh, M., Reeve, M. P., Gentry, A. E., Donner, K. M., Sipilä, T. P., Ghazal, A., Pagadala, M. S., Panizzon, M. S., Lancaster, E. E., FinnGen, Chatzinakos, C., Ganna, A., Bigdeli, T. B., Daly, M. J., … Hauger, R. L. (2025). Phenome-wide association study of male and female sex chromosome trisomies in 1.5 million participants of MVP, FinnGen, and UK Biobank. American journal of human genetics, 112(9), 2088–2101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.07.017