Dongbing Lai, PhD
Associate Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics
- Phone
- (317) 278-9544
- Address
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HS 4059
MMGE
IN
Indianapolis, IN - PubMed:
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Bio
Dr. Lai’s research seeks to translate genomic discoveries into biological insight and precision medicine. By integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and other omics data from cell lines, organoids, model organisms, and human tissues with clinical and genomic data from large-scale biobanks across diverse populations, he investigates the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying complex diseases and accelerate the development of personalized strategies for disease prevention and treatment.
His research primarily focuses on substance use disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, with collaborative efforts spanning a broad range of other complex disorders.
Key Publications
All publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/dongbing.lai.1/bibliography/public/
Zhang Z, Reiter JL, Nudelman KNH, Lai D, McAllister TW, McCrea MA, Broglio SP, Pasquina PF, Ren J, Liu Y, CARE Consortium Investigators. Polygenic Score Identifies Athletes at Increased Risk for Slower Recovery After Sport-Related Concussion: A Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium Study. Sports Med. 2026 Jun 30;. doi: 10.1007/s40279-026-02477-6. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 42377762.
Chen AB, Yu X, Rupp JM, Chu X, Thapa KS, Gao H, Reiter JL, Xuei X, Tsai AP, Landreth GE, Wang Y, Foroud TM, Tischfield JA, Lai D, Zhang P, Edenberg HJ, Liu Y. Regulatory mechanisms driven by functional 3'-UTR variants in alcohol use disorder and related traits. Genome Biol. 2026. Epub 20260629. doi: 10.1186/s13059-026-04176-x. PubMed PMID: 42374457.
Green NC, Gao H, Chu X, Yuan Q, McGuire P, Lai D, Jiang G, Xuei X, Reiter JL, Stevens J, Sutherland GT, Goate AM, Pang ZP, Slesinger PA, Hart RP, Tischfield JA, Agrawal A, Wang Y, Duren Z, Edenberg HJ, Liu Y. Integrated single-cell multiomic profiling of caudate nucleus suggests key mechanisms in alcohol use disorder. Nature Communications. 2025;16(1):9070. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-64136-0.
Lai D, Zhang M, Green N, Abreu M, Schwantes-An T-H, Parker CC, Zhang S, Jin F, Sun A, Zhang P, Edenberg HJ, Liu Y, Foroud T. Genome-wide meta-analyses of cross substance use disorders in diverse populations. Mol Psychiatr. 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-03294-5.
Xu J, Sun A, Yang Y, Shi Y, Lai D, Su J, Li L, Zeng D, Saykin AJ, Cheng F, et al. Real-world observations on neuroinflammation-related drug responses in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.0:13872877251376291. doi: 10.1177/13872877251376291
Johnson EC, Lai D, Miller AP, Hatoum AS, Deak JD, Balbona JV, Baranger DA, Galimberti M, Sanichwankul K, Thorgeirsson T, Colbert SM, Sanchez-Roige S, Adhikari K, Docherty A,
Zhou Y, Khasentino J, Yun T, Biradar MI, Shreibati J, Lai D, Schwantes-An TH, Luben R, McCaw ZR, Engmann J, Providencia R, Schmidt AF, Munroe PB, Yang H, Carroll A, Khawaja AP, McLean CY, Behsaz B, Hormozdiari F. Applying multimodal AI to physiological waveforms improves genetic prediction of cardiovascular traits. Am J Hum Genet. 2025;112(7):1562–79. Epub 20250620. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.05.015. PubMed PMID: 40543505; PMCID: PMC12256885
Chen Y, Fu H, Korada A, Lange MA, Rayanki C, Lu T, Lai D, Fang S, Guo C, Ma Y-Y. Decoding Secondary Motor Cortex Neuronal Activity During Cocaine Self-Administration: Insights From Longitudinal In Vivo Calcium Imaging. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science. 2025;5(5):100531. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100531.
Yun T, Cosentino J, Behsaz B, McCaw ZR, Hill D, Luben R, Lai D, Bates J, Yang H, Schwantes-An TH, Zhou Y, Khawaja AP, Carroll A, Hobbs BD, Cho MH, McLean CY, Hormozdiari F. Unsupervised representation learning on high-dimensional clinical data improves genomic discovery and prediction. Nat Genet. 2024;56(8):1604–13. Epub 20240708. doi: 10.1038/s41588-024-01831-6. PubMed PMID: 38977853; PMCID: PMC11319202.
Powell NR, Geck RC, Lai D, Shugg T, Skaar TC, Dunham MJ. Functional analysis of G6PD variants associated with low G6PD activity in the All of Us Research Program. Genetics. 2024;228(4). Epub 20241128. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyae170. PubMed PMID: 39607789; PMCID: PMC11631396.
Pan M, Lai D, Unverzagt F, Apostolova L, Hendrie HC, Saykin A, Foroud T, Gao S. Genetic variants for Alzheimer's disease and comorbid conditions. J Alzheimers Dis. 2024;102(2):470–9. Epub 20241110. doi: 10.1177/13872877241289054. PubMed PMID: 39523637.
Li X, Liu J, Boreland AJ, Kapadia S, Zhang S, Stillitano AC, Abbo Y, Clark L, Lai D, Liu Y, Barr PB, Meyers JL, Kamarajan C, Kuang W, Agrawal A, Slesinger PA, Dick D, Salvatore J, Tischfield J, Duan J, Edenberg HJ, Kreimer A, Hart RP, Pang ZP. Polygenic risk for alcohol use disorder affects cellular responses to ethanol exposure in a human microglial cell model. Sci Adv. 2024;10(45):eado5820. Epub 20241108. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado5820. PubMed PMID: 39514655; PMCID: PMC11546823.
Lai D, Zhang M, Abreu M, Schwantes-An T-H, Chan G, Dick DM, Kamarajan C, Kuang W, Nurnberger JI, Plawecki MH, Rice J, Schuckit M, Porjesz B, Liu Y, Foroud T. Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Score Compared With Family History and ADH1B. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(12):e2452705–e. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52705.
Hop PJ, Lai D, Keagle PJ, Baron DM, Kenna BJ, Kooyman M, Shankaracharya, Halter C, Straniero L, Asselta R, Bonvegna S, Soto-Beasley AI, Project Min EALSSC, Wszolek ZK, Uitti RJ, Isaias IU, Pezzoli G, Ticozzi N, Ross OA, Veldink JH, Foroud TM, Kenna KP, Landers JE. Systematic rare variant analyses identify RAB32 as a susceptibility gene for familial Parkinson's disease. Nat Genet. 2024;56(7):1371–6. Epub 20240610. doi: 10.1038/s41588-024-01787-7. PubMed PMID: 38858457; PMCID: PMC11250361.
Li R, Reiter JL, Chen AB, Chen SX, Foroud T, Edenberg HJ, Lai D, Liu Y. RNA alternative splicing impacts the risk for alcohol use disorder. Mol Psychiatry. 2023. Epub 20230523. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02111-1. PubMed PMID: 37217680.
Lai D, Zhang M, Li R, Zhang C, Zhang P, Liu Y, Gao S, Foroud T. Identifying Genes Associated with Alzheimer's Disease Using Gene-Based Polygenic Risk Score. J Alzheimers Dis. 2023. Epub 20231118. doi: 10.3233/jad-230510. PubMed PMID: 38007651.
Lai D, Kuo SI, Wetherill L, Aliev F, Zhang M, Marco A, Schwantes-An TH, Dick D, Francis MW, Johnson EC, Kamarajan C, Kinreich S, Kuperman S, Meyers J, Nurnberger JI, Liu Y, Edenberg HJ, Porjesz B, Agrawal A, Foroud T, Schuckit M, Plawecki MH, Bucholz KK, McCutcheon VV. Associations between alcohol use disorder polygenic score and remission in participants from high-risk families and the Indiana Biobank. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2023. Epub 20231206. doi: 10.1111/acer.15239. PubMed PMID: 38054532.
Cosentino J, Behsaz B, Alipanahi B, McCaw ZR, Hill D, Schwantes-An TH, Lai D, Carroll A, Hobbs BD, Cho MH, McLean CY, Hormozdiari F. Inference of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with deep learning on raw spirograms identifies new genetic loci and improves risk models. Nat Genet. 2023;55(5):787–95. Epub 20230417. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01372-4. PubMed PMID: 37069358.
Zhang P, Edenberg HJ, Nurnberger J, Lai D, Cheng F, Liu Y. Alcohol use disorder is associated with higher risks of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: A study of US insurance claims data. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. 2022;14(1):e12370. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12370.
Lai D, Schwantes-An TH, Abreu M, Chan G, Hesselbrock V, Kamarajan C, Liu Y, Meyers JL, Nurnberger JI, Jr., Plawecki MH, Wetherill L, Schuckit M, Zhang P, Edenberg HJ, Porjesz B, Agrawal A, Foroud T. Gene-based polygenic risk scores analysis of alcohol use disorder in African Americans. Transl Psychiatry. 2022;12(1):266. Epub 20220705. doi: 10.1038/s41398-022-02029-2. PubMed PMID: 35790736; PMCID: PMC9256707.
Lai D, Johnson EC, Colbert S, Pandey G, Chan G, Bauer L, Francis MW, Hesselbrock V, Kamarajan C, Kramer J, Kuang W, Kuo S, Kuperman S, Liu Y, McCutcheon V, Pang Z, Plawecki MH, Schuckit M, Tischfield J, Wetherill L, Zang Y, Edenberg HJ, Porjesz B, Agrawal A, Foroud T. Evaluating risk for alcohol use disorder: Polygenic risk scores and family history. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2022;46(3):374–83. Epub 20220310. doi: 10.1111/acer.14772. PubMed PMID: 35267208; PMCID: PMC8928056.
Rao X, Thapa KS, Chen AB, Lin H, Gao H, Reiter JL, Hargreaves KA, Ipe J, Lai D, Xuei X, Wang Y, Gu H, Kapoor M, Farris SP, Tischfield J, Foroud T, Goate AM, Skaar TC, Mayfield RD, Edenberg HJ, Liu Y. Allele-specific expression and high-throughput reporter assay reveal functional genetic variants associated with alcohol use disorders. Mol Psychiatry. 2021;26(4):1142–51. Epub 20190902. doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0508-z. PubMed PMID: 31477794; PMCID: PMC7050407.
Lai D, Kapoor M, Wetherill L, Schwandt M, Ramchandani VA, Goldman D, Chao M, Almasy L, Bucholz K, Hart RP, Kamarajan C, Meyers JL, Nurnberger JI, Tischfield J, Edenberg HJ, Schuckit M, Goate A, Scott DM, Porjesz B, Agrawal A, Foroud T. Genome-wide admixture mapping of DSM-IV alcohol dependence, criterion count, and the self-rating of the effects of ethanol in African American populations. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2021;186(3):151–61. Epub 20200711. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32805. PubMed PMID: 32652861.
Lai D, Alipanahi B, Fontanillas P, Schwantes-An TH, Aasly J, Alcalay RN, Beecham GW, Berg D, Bressman S, Brice A, Brockman K, Clark L, Cookson M, Das S, Van Deerlin V, Follett J, Farrer MJ, Trinh J, Gasser T, Goldwurm S, Gustavsson E, Klein C, Lang AE, Langston JW, Latourelle J, Lynch T, Marder K, Marras C, Martin ER, McLean CY, Mejia-Santana H, Molho E, Myers RH, Nuytemans K, Ozelius L, Payami H, Raymond D, Rogaeva E, Rogers MP, Ross OA, Samii A, Saunders-Pullman R, Schule B, Schulte C, Scott WK, Tanner C, Tolosa E, Tomkins JE, Vilas D, Trojanowski JQ, andMe Research T, Uitti R, Vance JM, Visanji NP, Wszolek ZK, Zabetian CP, Mirelman A, Giladi N, Orr Urtreger A, Cannon P, Fiske B, Foroud T. Genomewide Association Studies of LRRK2 Modifiers of Parkinson's Disease. Ann Neurol. 2021;90(1):76–88. Epub 20210517. doi: 10.1002/ana.26094. PubMed PMID: 33938021; PMCID: PMC8252519.
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | PhD | Indiana University |
| 2009 | MS | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| 2003 | MS | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| 1993 | BS | Nankai University |
Dr. Lai's research lies at the intersection of statistical genetics, computational biology, and translational medicine, with a focus on developing computational methods and integrating diverse biological and clinical data to understand complex diseases and develop prevention and treatment strategies.
His current research areas include:
Human genetics: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), rare variant analysis, and genetic architecture of complex diseases.
Experimental disease models: Leveraging cell lines, organoids, and model organisms to investigate disease mechanisms and validate human genomic discoveries.
Single-cell and multi-omics: Single-cell RNA-seq, proteomics, and integrative multi-omics to identify disease-associated cell types, molecular pathways, and therapeutic targets.
Biobanks and real-world data: Integrating genomic data and electronic health records (EHR) from large-scale biobanks to investigate disease etiology, progression, and clinical outcomes.
Disease prediction and prognosis: Developing clinically actionable polygenic scores (PGS) across diverse populations for precision prevention and treatment.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): Developing interpretable AI/ML methods to model complex interactions among genetic, environmental, and clinical factors.
Genetically informed drug repurposing: Identifying therapeutic opportunities through human genetics, multi-omics, and real-world data.
Disease applications: Substance use disorders (alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, opioid, stimulant, tobacco, polysubstance), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other complex disorders.
Dr. Lai's clinical interests include clinical trials of polygenic scores (PGS) for disease risk prediction, prognosis, targeted prevention, and personalized treatment and clinical trials of repurposed drugs identified through human genetics, multi-omics, and real-world data.