Clara Lajonchere

Clara LaJonchere, PhD

Executive Committee

About

Dr. Lajonchere’s research has focused on disorders affecting the central nervous system, with an emphasis on psychiatric genetics and translational medicine. She has held several academic and leadership positions including Director of the NIH Center for Genomic and Phenomic Studies in Autism at the USC Keck School of Medicine and Vice President of Clinical Programs for the science and advocacy organization, Autism Speaks. Dr. Lajonchere has worked in the field of autism for over a decade. She was the Chief Scientific Officer for Cognoa, Inc., a digital healthcare company, and has consulted for several tech start-ups in the autism arena focused on artificial intelligence, robotics, and targeted therapeutics.

Work Titles/Affiliations

  • Deputy Director, Institute for Precision Health
  • Adjunct Professor of Neurology

Publications

  • McDonnell CG, Bradley CC, Kanne SM, Lajonchere C, Warren Z, Carpenter LA. When Are We Sure? Predictors of Clinician Certainty in the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Nov 28. PMID: 30488151.View in: PubMed
  • Lajonchere CM, Wheeler BY, Valente TW, Kreutzer C, Munson A, Narayanan S, Kazemzadeh A, Cruz R, Martinez I, Schrager SM, Schweitzer L, Chklovski T, Hwang D. Strategies for Disseminating Information on Biomedical Research on Autism to Hispanic Parents. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Mar; 46(3):1038-50. PMID: 26563948.View in: PubMed
  • Froehlich-Santino W, Londono Tobon A, Cleveland S, Torres A, Phillips J, Cohen B, Torigoe T, Miller J, Fedele A, Collins J, Smith K, Lotspeich L, Croen LA, Ozonoff S, Lajonchere C, Grether JK, O’Hara R, Hallmayer J. Prenatal and perinatal risk factors in a twin study of autism spectrum disorders. J Psychiatr Res. 2014 Jul; 54:100-8. PMID: 24726638; PMCID: PMC4072527.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Kas MJ, Glennon JC, Buitelaar J, Ey E, Biemans B, Crawley J, Ring RH, Lajonchere C, Esclassan F, Talpos J, Noldus LP, Burbach JP, Steckler T. Assessing behavioural and cognitive domains of autism spectrum disorders in rodents: current status and future perspectives. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2014 Mar; 231(6):1125-46. PMID: 24048469.View in: PubMed
  • Froehlich W, Cleveland S, Torres A, Phillips J, Cohen B, Torigoe T, Miller J, Fedele A, Collins J, Smith K, Lotspeich L, Croen LA, Ozonoff S, Lajonchere C, Grether JK, Hallmayer J. Head circumferences in twins with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Sep; 43(9):2026-37. PMID: 23321801; PMCID: PMC3732556.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Jiang YH, Yuen RK, Jin X, Wang M, Chen N, Wu X, Ju J, Mei J, Shi Y, He M, Wang G, Liang J, Wang Z, Cao D, Carter MT, Chrysler C, Drmic IE, Howe JL, Lau L, Marshall CR, Merico D, Nalpathamkalam T, Thiruvahindrapuram B, Thompson A, Uddin M, Walker S, Luo J, Anagnostou E, Zwaigenbaum L, Ring RH, Wang J, Lajonchere C, Wang J, Shih A, Szatmari P, Yang H, Dawson G, Li Y, Scherer SW. Detection of clinically relevant genetic variants in autism spectrum disorder by whole-genome sequencing. Am J Hum Genet. 2013 Aug 08; 93(2):249-63. PMID: 23849776; PMCID: PMC3738824.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Perrin JM, Coury DL, Jones N, Lajonchere C. The Autism Treatment Network and Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health: future directions. Pediatrics. 2012 Nov; 130 Suppl 2:S198-201. PMID: 23118252.View in: PubMed
  • Lajonchere C, Jones N, Coury DL, Perrin JM. Leadership in health care, research, and quality improvement for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: Autism Treatment Network and Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health. Pediatrics. 2012 Nov; 130 Suppl 2:S62-8. PMID: 23118255.View in: PubMed
  • Anney R, Klei L, Pinto D, Almeida J, Bacchelli E, Baird G, Bolshakova N, Bölte S, Bolton PF, Bourgeron T, Brennan S, Brian J, Casey J, Conroy J, Correia C, Corsello C, Crawford EL, de Jonge M, Delorme R, Duketis E, Duque F, Estes A, Farrar P, Fernandez BA, Folstein SE, Fombonne E, Gilbert J, Gillberg C, Glessner JT, Green A, Green J, Guter SJ, Heron EA, Holt R, Howe JL, Hughes G, Hus V, Igliozzi R, Jacob S, Kenny GP, Kim C, Kolevzon A, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere CM, Lamb JA, Law-Smith M, Leboyer M, Le Couteur A, Leventhal BL, Liu XQ, Lombard F, Lord C, Lotspeich L, Lund SC, Magalhaes TR, Mantoulan C, McDougle CJ, Melhem NM, Merikangas A, Minshew NJ, Mirza GK, Munson J, Noakes C, Nygren G, Papanikolaou K, Pagnamenta AT, Parrini B, Paton T, Pickles A, Posey DJ, Poustka F, Ragoussis J, Regan R, Roberts W, Roeder K, Roge B, Rutter ML, Schlitt S, Shah N, Sheffield VC, Soorya L, Sousa I, Stoppioni V, Sykes N, Tancredi R, Thompson AP, Thomson S, Tryfon A, Tsiantis J, Van Engeland H, Vincent JB, Volkmar F, Vorstman JA, Wallace S, Wing K, Wittemeyer K, Wood S, Zurawiecki D, Zwaigenbaum L, Bailey AJ, Battaglia A, Cantor RM, Coon H, Cuccaro ML, Dawson G, Ennis S, Freitag CM, Geschwind DH, Haines JL, Klauck SM, McMahon WM, Maestrini E, Miller J, Monaco AP, Nelson SF, Nurnberger JI, Oliveira G, Parr JR, Pericak-Vance MA, Piven J, Schellenberg GD, Scherer SW, Vicente AM, Wassink TH, Wijsman EM, Betancur C, Buxbaum JD, Cook EH, Gallagher L, Gill M, Hallmayer J, Paterson AD, Sutcliffe JS, Szatmari P, Vieland VJ, Hakonarson H, Devlin B. Individual common variants exert weak effects on the risk for autism spectrum disorders. Hum Mol Genet. 2012 Nov 01; 21(21):4781-92. PMID: 22843504.View in: PubMed
  • Hallmayer J, Cleveland S, Torres A, Phillips J, Cohen B, Torigoe T, Miller J, Fedele A, Collins J, Smith K, Lotspeich L, Croen LA, Ozonoff S, Lajonchere C, Grether JK, Risch N. Genetic heritability and shared environmental factors among twin pairs with autism. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Nov; 68(11):1095-102. PMID: 21727249; PMCID: PMC4440679.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Pickett J, Xiu E, Tuchman R, Dawson G, Lajonchere C. Mortality in individuals with autism, with and without epilepsy. J Child Neurol. 2011 Aug; 26(8):932-9. PMID: 21471551.View in: PubMed
  • Lajonchere CM. Changing the landscape of autism research: the autism genetic resource exchange. Neuron. 2010 Oct 21; 68(2):187-91. PMID: 20955925; PMCID: PMC3004528.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Anney R, Klei L, Pinto D, Regan R, Conroy J, Magalhaes TR, Correia C, Abrahams BS, Sykes N, Pagnamenta AT, Almeida J, Bacchelli E, Bailey AJ, Baird G, Battaglia A, Berney T, Bolshakova N, Bölte S, Bolton PF, Bourgeron T, Brennan S, Brian J, Carson AR, Casallo G, Casey J, Chu SH, Cochrane L, Corsello C, Crawford EL, Crossett A, Dawson G, de Jonge M, Delorme R, Drmic I, Duketis E, Duque F, Estes A, Farrar P, Fernandez BA, Folstein SE, Fombonne E, Freitag CM, Gilbert J, Gillberg C, Glessner JT, Goldberg J, Green J, Guter SJ, Hakonarson H, Heron EA, Hill M, Holt R, Howe JL, Hughes G, Hus V, Igliozzi R, Kim C, Klauck SM, Kolevzon A, Korvatska O, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere CM, Lamb JA, Laskawiec M, Leboyer M, Le Couteur A, Leventhal BL, Lionel AC, Liu XQ, Lord C, Lotspeich L, Lund SC, Maestrini E, Mahoney W, Mantoulan C, Marshall CR, McConachie H, McDougle CJ, McGrath J, McMahon WM, Melhem NM, Merikangas A, Migita O, Minshew NJ, Mirza GK, Munson J, Nelson SF, Noakes C, Noor A, Nygren G, Oliveira G, Papanikolaou K, Parr JR, Parrini B, Paton T, Pickles A, Piven J, Posey DJ, Poustka A, Poustka F, Prasad A, Ragoussis J, Renshaw K, Rickaby J, Roberts W, Roeder K, Roge B, Rutter ML, Bierut LJ, Rice JP, Salt J, Sansom K, Sato D, Segurado R, Senman L, Shah N, Sheffield VC, Soorya L, Sousa I, Stoppioni V, Strawbridge C, Tancredi R, Tansey K, Thiruvahindrapduram B, Thompson AP, Thomson S, Tryfon A, Tsiantis J, Van Engeland H, Vincent JB, Volkmar F, Wallace S, Wang K, Wang Z, Wassink TH, Wing K, Wittemeyer K, Wood S, Yaspan BL, Zurawiecki D, Zwaigenbaum L, Betancur C, Buxbaum JD, Cantor RM, Cook EH, Coon H, Cuccaro ML, Gallagher L, Geschwind DH, Gill M, Haines JL, Miller J, Monaco AP, Nurnberger JI, Paterson AD, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Scherer SW, Sutcliffe JS, Szatmari P, Vicente AM, Vieland VJ, Wijsman EM, Devlin B, Ennis S, Hallmayer J. A genome-wide scan for common alleles affecting risk for autism. Hum Mol Genet. 2010 Oct 15; 19(20):4072-82. PMID: 20663923.View in: PubMed
  • Pinto D, Pagnamenta AT, Klei L, Anney R, Merico D, Regan R, Conroy J, Magalhaes TR, Correia C, Abrahams BS, Almeida J, Bacchelli E, Bader GD, Bailey AJ, Baird G, Battaglia A, Berney T, Bolshakova N, Bölte S, Bolton PF, Bourgeron T, Brennan S, Brian J, Bryson SE, Carson AR, Casallo G, Casey J, Chung BH, Cochrane L, Corsello C, Crawford EL, Crossett A, Cytrynbaum C, Dawson G, de Jonge M, Delorme R, Drmic I, Duketis E, Duque F, Estes A, Farrar P, Fernandez BA, Folstein SE, Fombonne E, Freitag CM, Gilbert J, Gillberg C, Glessner JT, Goldberg J, Green A, Green J, Guter SJ, Hakonarson H, Heron EA, Hill M, Holt R, Howe JL, Hughes G, Hus V, Igliozzi R, Kim C, Klauck SM, Kolevzon A, Korvatska O, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere CM, Lamb JA, Laskawiec M, Leboyer M, Le Couteur A, Leventhal BL, Lionel AC, Liu XQ, Lord C, Lotspeich L, Lund SC, Maestrini E, Mahoney W, Mantoulan C, Marshall CR, McConachie H, McDougle CJ, McGrath J, McMahon WM, Merikangas A, Migita O, Minshew NJ, Mirza GK, Munson J, Nelson SF, Noakes C, Noor A, Nygren G, Oliveira G, Papanikolaou K, Parr JR, Parrini B, Paton T, Pickles A, Pilorge M, Piven J, Ponting CP, Posey DJ, Poustka A, Poustka F, Prasad A, Ragoussis J, Renshaw K, Rickaby J, Roberts W, Roeder K, Roge B, Rutter ML, Bierut LJ, Rice JP, Salt J, Sansom K, Sato D, Segurado R, Sequeira AF, Senman L, Shah N, Sheffield VC, Soorya L, Sousa I, Stein O, Sykes N, Stoppioni V, Strawbridge C, Tancredi R, Tansey K, Thiruvahindrapduram B, Thompson AP, Thomson S, Tryfon A, Tsiantis J, Van Engeland H, Vincent JB, Volkmar F, Wallace S, Wang K, Wang Z, Wassink TH, Webber C, Weksberg R, Wing K, Wittemeyer K, Wood S, Wu J, Yaspan BL, Zurawiecki D, Zwaigenbaum L, Buxbaum JD, Cantor RM, Cook EH, Coon H, Cuccaro ML, Devlin B, Ennis S, Gallagher L, Geschwind DH, Gill M, Haines JL, Hallmayer J, Miller J, Monaco AP, Nurnberger JI, Paterson AD, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Szatmari P, Vicente AM, Vieland VJ, Wijsman EM, Scherer SW, Sutcliffe JS, Betancur C. Functional impact of global rare copy number variation in autism spectrum disorders. Nature. 2010 Jul 15; 466(7304):368-72. PMID: 20531469.View in: PubMed
  • McCarthy SE, Makarov V, Kirov G, Addington AM, McClellan J, Yoon S, Perkins DO, Dickel DE, Kusenda M, Krastoshevsky O, Krause V, Kumar RA, Grozeva D, Malhotra D, Walsh T, Zackai EH, Kaplan P, Ganesh J, Krantz ID, Spinner NB, Roccanova P, Bhandari A, Pavon K, Lakshmi B, Leotta A, Kendall J, Lee YH, Vacic V, Gary S, Iakoucheva LM, Crow TJ, Christian SL, Lieberman JA, Stroup TS, Lehtimäki T, Puura K, Haldeman-Englert C, Pearl J, Goodell M, Willour VL, Derosse P, Steele J, Kassem L, Wolff J, Chitkara N, McMahon FJ, Malhotra AK, Potash JB, Schulze TG, Nöthen MM, Cichon S, Rietschel M, Leibenluft E, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere CM, Sutcliffe JS, Skuse D, Gill M, Gallagher L, Mendell NR, Craddock N, Owen MJ, O’Donovan MC, Shaikh TH, Susser E, Delisi LE, Sullivan PF, Deutsch CK, Rapoport J, Levy DL, King MC, Sebat J. Microduplications of 16p11.2 are associated with schizophrenia. Nat Genet. 2009 Nov; 41(11):1223-7. PMID: 19855392.View in: PubMed
  • Bucan M, Abrahams BS, Wang K, Glessner JT, Herman EI, Sonnenblick LI, Alvarez Retuerto AI, Imielinski M, Hadley D, Bradfield JP, Kim C, Gidaya NB, Lindquist I, Hutman T, Sigman M, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere CM, Singleton A, Kim J, Wassink TH, McMahon WM, Owley T, Sweeney JA, Coon H, Nurnberger JI, Li M, Cantor RM, Minshew NJ, Sutcliffe JS, Cook EH, Dawson G, Buxbaum JD, Grant SF, Schellenberg GD, Geschwind DH, Hakonarson H. Genome-wide analyses of exonic copy number variants in a family-based study point to novel autism susceptibility genes. PLoS Genet. 2009 Jun; 5(6):e1000536. PMID: 19557195; PMCID: PMC2695001.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Wang K, Zhang H, Ma D, Bucan M, Glessner JT, Abrahams BS, Salyakina D, Imielinski M, Bradfield JP, Sleiman PM, Kim CE, Hou C, Frackelton E, Chiavacci R, Takahashi N, Sakurai T, Rappaport E, Lajonchere CM, Munson J, Estes A, Korvatska O, Piven J, Sonnenblick LI, Alvarez Retuerto AI, Herman EI, Dong H, Hutman T, Sigman M, Ozonoff S, Klin A, Owley T, Sweeney JA, Brune CW, Cantor RM, Bernier R, Gilbert JR, Cuccaro ML, McMahon WM, Miller J, State MW, Wassink TH, Coon H, Levy SE, Schultz RT, Nurnberger JI, Haines JL, Sutcliffe JS, Cook EH, Minshew NJ, Buxbaum JD, Dawson G, Grant SF, Geschwind DH, Pericak-Vance MA, Schellenberg GD, Hakonarson H. Common genetic variants on 5p14.1 associate with autism spectrum disorders. Nature. 2009 May 28; 459(7246):528-33. PMID: 19404256; PMCID: PMC2943511.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Zhao X, Leotta A, Kustanovich V, Lajonchere C, Geschwind DH, Law K, Law P, Qiu S, Lord C, Sebat J, Ye K, Wigler M. A unified genetic theory for sporadic and inherited autism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jul 31; 104(31):12831-6. PMID: 17652511; PMCID: PMC1933261.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Cantor RM, Yoon JL, Furr J, Lajonchere CM. Paternal age and autism are associated in a family-based sample. Mol Psychiatry. 2007 May; 12(5):419-21. PMID: 17453057.View in: PubMed
  • Belmonte MK, Mazziotta JC, Minshew NJ, Evans AC, Courchesne E, Dager SR, Bookheimer SY, Aylward EH, Amaral DG, Cantor RM, Chugani DC, Dale AM, Davatzikos C, Gerig G, Herbert MR, Lainhart JE, Murphy DG, Piven J, Reiss AL, Schultz RT, Zeffiro TA, Levi-Pearl S, Lajonchere C, Colamarino SA. Offering to share: how to put heads together in autism neuroimaging. J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Jan; 38(1):2-13. PMID: 17347882; PMCID: PMC3076291.View in: PubMed, PubMed Central
  • Szatmari P, Paterson AD, Zwaigenbaum L, Roberts W, Brian J, Liu XQ, Vincent JB, Skaug JL, Thompson AP, Senman L, Feuk L, Qian C, Bryson SE, Jones MB, Marshall CR, Scherer SW, Vieland VJ, Bartlett C, Mangin LV, Goedken R, Segre A, Pericak-Vance MA, Cuccaro ML, Gilbert JR, Wright HH, Abramson RK, Betancur C, Bourgeron T, Gillberg C, Leboyer M, Buxbaum JD, Davis KL, Hollander E, Silverman JM, Hallmayer J, Lotspeich L, Sutcliffe JS, Haines JL, Folstein SE, Piven J, Wassink TH, Sheffield V, Geschwind DH, Bucan M, Brown WT, Cantor RM, Constantino JN, Gilliam TC, Herbert M, Lajonchere C, Ledbetter DH, Lese-Martin C, Miller J, Nelson S, Samango-Sprouse CA, Spence S, State M, Tanzi RE, Coon H, Dawson G, Devlin B, Estes A, Flodman P, Klei L, McMahon WM, Minshew N, Munson J, Korvatska E, Rodier PM, Schellenberg GD, Smith M, Spence MA, Stodgell C, Tepper PG, Wijsman EM, Yu CE, Rogé B, Mantoulan C, Wittemeyer K, Poustka A, Felder B, Klauck SM, Schuster C, Poustka F, Bölte S, Feineis-Matthews S, Herbrecht E, Schmötzer G, Tsiantis J, Papanikolaou K, Maestrini E, Bacchelli E, Blasi F, Carone S, Toma C, Van Engeland H, de Jonge M, Kemner C, Koop F, Koop F, Langemeijer M, Langemeijer M, Hijmans C, Hijimans C, Staal WG, Baird G, Bolton PF, Rutter ML, Weisblatt E, Green J, Aldred C, Wilkinson JA, Pickles A, Le Couteur A, Berney T, McConachie H, Bailey AJ, Francis K, Honeyman G, Hutchinson A, Parr JR, Wallace S, Monaco AP, Barnby G, Kobayashi K, Lamb JA, Sousa I, Sykes N, Cook EH, Guter SJ, Leventhal BL, Salt J, Lord C, Corsello C, Hus V, Weeks DE, Volkmar F, Tauber M, Fombonne E, Shih A, Meyer KJ. Mapping autism risk loci using genetic linkage and chromosomal rearrangements. Nat Genet. 2007 Mar; 39(3):319-28. PMID: 17322880.View in: PubMed
  • Pratt J, Lajonchere CM, Abrams RA. Attentional modulation of the gap effect. Vision Res. 2006 Aug; 46(16):2602-7. PMID: 16524610.View in: PubMed
  • Constantino JN, Lajonchere C, Lutz M, Gray T, Abbacchi A, McKenna K, Singh D, Todd RD. Autistic social impairment in the siblings of children with pervasive developmental disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Feb; 163(2):294-6. PMID: 16449484.View in: PubMed
  • Levy DL, Lajonchere CM, Dorogusker B, Min D, Lee S, Tartaglini A, Lieberman JA, Mendell NR. Quantitative characterization of eye tracking dysfunction in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2000 May 05; 42(3):171-85. PMID: 10785576.View in: PubMed
  • Kinney DK, Levy DL, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Lajonchere CM, Holzman PS. Eye-tracking dysfunction and birth-month weather in schizophrenia. J Abnorm Psychol. 1999 May; 108(2):359-62. PMID: 10369047.View in: PubMed
  • Makowski D, Waternaux C, Lajonchere CM, Dicker R, Smoke N, Koplewicz H, Min D, Mendell NR, Levy DL. Thought disorder in adolescent-onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 1997 Feb 07; 23(2):147-65. PMID: 9061811.View in: PubMed
  • Kinney DK, Levy DL, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Medoff D, LaJonchere CM, Radford-Paregol M. Season of birth and obstetrical complications in schizophrenics. J Psychiatr Res. 1994 Nov-Dec; 28(6):499-509. PMID: 7699609.View in: PubMed
  • Kinney DK, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Levy DL, Medoff D, Lajonchere CM, Radford-Paregol M. Obstetrical complications in patients with bipolar disorder and their siblings. Psychiatry Res. 1993 Jul; 48(1):47-56. PMID: 8416018.View in: PubMed
  • Matthysse S, Levy DL, Kinney D, Deutsch C, Lajonchere C, Yurgelun-Todd D, Woods B, Holzman PS. Gene expression in mental illness: a navigation chart to future progress. J Psychiatr Res. 1992 Oct; 26(4):461-73. PMID: 1491362.