Helen Willsey

Helen Willsey is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, affiliated with the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. She earned a BS in Biology from Duke University (2009), PhD in Genetics from Yale University (2015), and completed postdoctoral training in Xenopus Methods at UC Berkeley (2016) and Developmental Neuroscience at UCSF (2021). Her research focuses on translating psychiatric disorder genetics into mechanistic understanding using the Xenopus tropicalis model, particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

• BS, Biology - Duke University (2009)
• PhD, Genetics - Yale University (2015)
• Postdoc, Xenopus Methods - UC Berkeley (2016)
• Postdoc, Developmental Neuroscience - UCSF (2021)

The Willsey Lab investigates how high-confidence ASD risk genes affect forebrain neurogenesis through CRISPR/Cas9-based half-mutant models. They discovered neural progenitor maturation defects across top ASD genes and identified estrogen signaling as a potential resilience factor. Current work expands this platform to schizophrenia, Tourette Disorder, ADHD, and OCD while exploring gene-environment interactions.

Her publications since 2010 span autism genetics, ciliogenesis, neurodevelopmental mechanisms, and CRISPR-based disease modeling. Key themes include Xenopus tropicalis as a translational model, estrogen signaling in neuroprotection, and multi-system convergence between neurological and cardiac developmental disorders.

• Coalition to Cure CHD2 Early Stage Investigator Award (2022)
• Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator (2022)
• International Society for Autism Research Early Stage Investigator (2021)
• SYNGAP Research Fund Pilot Grant (2023)
• Multiple early career awards including Yale Thesis Prize and Duke honors

She collaborates with UCSF colleagues including Matthew State, Micaela Lasser, and Belinda Wang, and contributes to methodological advancements in Xenopus research and deep learning applications for embryonic phenotyping.