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Staff Clinician

Neurobehavioral Clinical Research Section

Education

M.D. Ross University School of Medicine, Barbados

Biography

Dr. Sagar is a staff clinician in the Neurobehavioral Clinical Research Section in Dr. Philip Shaw’s lab at the National Human Genome Research Institute.  She completed her Medical School from the Ross University School of Medicine, Barbados; residencey in Adult Psychiatry Residency at UCLA Kern, Bakersfield, CA; fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She did an additional year of fellowship training on an NIH T32 grant in the neuroscience of mental health where she studied the genetics of autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Sagar worked as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine and at the Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC.  She also worked at community and county clinics in Los Angeles and Maryland, including at a Federally Qualified Health Center. Prior to joining Dr. Shaw’s lab, Dr. Sagar worked as a clinician at the Student Health Center, George Washington University, Washington DC, in medication management and provided occasional therapy for the students.

Scientific Summary

Dr. Sagar’s research interests are focused on the genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder. Previously, she researched on copy number variants and their possible role in the development and symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. As a staff clinician in the Neurobehavioral Clinical Research Section, in Dr. Shaw’s lab, she is investigating the impulsivity, compulsivity and developmental trajectory of ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) study volunteers using genetic testing, 7T MRI brain scans, and semi structured clinical evaluations.

Publications

Sagar A, Pinto D, Najjar F, Guter SJ, Macmillan C, Cook EH. de Novo unbalanced translocation (4p duplication/8p deletion) in a patient with autism, OCD, and overgrowth syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2107 Jun; 173(6):1656-1662.

Levin-Decanini T, Francis SM, Sagar A, Liu W, Carter CS, Jacob S.  Oxytocin and vasopressin in autism and genetic syndromes.  In Fatemi, S. (eds) The Molecular Basis of Autism. Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. 2015, 275-306.

Ceroni F, Sagar A, Simpson NH, Gawthrope AJ, Newbury DF, Pinto D, et al. A Deletion involving CD38 and BST1 results in a fusion transcript in a patient with autism and asthma. Autism Res. 2014 Apr;7(2):254-63.

Francis SM, Sagar A, Levin-Decanini T, Liu W, Carter CS, Jacob S. Oxytocin and vasopressin systems in genetic syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders. Brain Res. 2014 Sep 11;1580:199-218.

Sagar A, Bishop JR, Tessman DC, Guter S, Martin CL, Cook EH.  Co-occurrence of autism, childhood psychosis, and intellectual disability associated with a de novo 3q29 microdeletionAm J Med Genet A.  2013 Apr; 161(4): 845-849.

Cohen RN,  Cohen LE, Botero D, Yu C, Sagar A, Jurkiewicz M, Radovick S. Enhanced repression by HESX1 as a cause of hypopituitarism and septooptic dysplasia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Oct; 88(10): 4832-4839.

Last updated: November 28, 2023