Email
knacct@dental.pitt.edu

Phone
412-648-8384

Office
500 Cellomics/Bridgeside Point Building
100 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Position
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Biology
School of Dental Medicine

Research Interests

1. Oral-Facial Cleft Families: Phenotype and Genetics:  Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is a major birth defect with many different genetic and environmental causes that remain incompletely understood. This project ascertains fami­lies with at least two affected family members, in order to find genes underlying CL/P.
2. Genetic Factors Contributing to Oral Health Disparities in Appalachia (COHRA):  Oral health is a complex trait with ge­netic, environmental and behavioral components. Oral health disparities exist throughout Appalachia, with many edentulous young adults. This project will study the genetic, environmental and behavioral components of oral health in Appalachia, with the aim of develop­ing appropriate targeted interventions to improve oral health in this community.

Recent Publications

Neiswanger K, Deleyiannis FW, Avila JR, Cooper ME, Brandon CA, Vieira AR, Noorchashm N, Weinberg SM, Bardi KM, Murray JC, Marazita ML. Candidate genes for oral-facial clefts in Guatemalan families. Ann Plast Surg. 2006 May;56(5):518-21; discussion 521.

Neiswanger K, Hohler PM, Hively-Thomas LB, McPherson EW, Hogge WA, Surti U. Variable outcomes in mosaic trisomy 16: five case reports and literature analysis. Prenat Diagn. 2006 May;26(5):454-61. Review.

Weinberg SM, Neiswanger K, Martin RA, Mooney MP, Kane AA, Wenger SL, Losee J, Deleyiannis F, Ma L, De Salamanca JE, Czeizel AE, Marazita ML. The Pittsburgh Oral-Facial Cleft study: expanding the cleft phenotype. Background and justification. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2006 Jan;43(1):7-20. Review.

Scott NM, Weinberg SM, Neiswanger K, Brandon CA, Daack-Hirsch S, Murray JC, Liu YE, Marazita ML. Dermatoglyphic fingerprint heterogeneity among individuals with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate and their unaffected relatives in China and the Philippines. Hum Biol. 2005 Apr;77(2):257-66.

Scott NM, Weinberg SM, Neiswanger K, Daack-Hirsch S, O'Brien S, Murray JC, Marazita ML. Dermatoglyphic pattern types in subjects with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and their unaffected relatives in the Philippines. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2005 Jul;42(4):362-6.

Scott NM, Weinberg SM, Neiswanger K, Brandon CA, Marazita ML. Hair whorls and handedness: informative phenotypic markers in nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NS CL/P) cases and their unaffected relatives. Am J Med Genet A. 2005 Jul 15;136(2):158-61.

McPherson E, Neiswanger K, Surti U. Tetrasomy 9q in an infant with cleft palate and multiple anomalies. Clin Dysmorphol. 2005 Jul;14(3):145-7. Review.

Weinberg SM, Scott NM, Neiswanger K, Marazita ML. Intraobserver error associated with measurements of the hand. Am J Hum Biol. 2005 May-Jun;17(3):368-71.

Neiswanger K, Cooper ME, Liu YE, Hu DN, Melnick M, Weinberg SM, Marazita ML. Bilateral asymmetry in Chinese families with cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2005 Mar;42(2):192-6.

Weinberg SM, Scott NM, Neiswanger K, Brandon CA, Marazita ML. Digital three-dimensional photogrammetry: evaluation of anthropometric precision and accuracy using a Genex 3D camera system. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2004 Sep;41(5):507-18.

Marazita ML, Murray JC, Lidral AC, Arcos-Burgos M, Cooper ME, Goldstein T, Maher BS, Daack-Hirsch S, Schultz R, Mansilla MA, Field LL, Liu YE, Prescott N, Malcolm S, Winter R, Ray A, Moreno L, Valencia C, Neiswanger K, Wyszynski DF, Bailey-Wilson JE, Albacha-Hejazi H, Beaty TH, McIntosh I, Hetmanski JB, Tuncbilek G, Edwards M, Harkin L, Scott R, Roddick LG. Meta-analysis of 13 genome scans reveals multiple cleft lip/palate genes with novel loci on 9q21 and 2q32-35. Am J Hum Genet. 2004 Aug;75(2):161-73. Epub 2004 Jun 4.