Janice Smith

PhD
Sr. Clinical Director, Cytogenetics

Dr. Janice Smith is the Sr. Clinical Director of Cytogenetics at Baylor Genetics. Prior to joining BG, Dr. Smith served as a leader in cytogenetics laboratories throughout Houston, TX.  

Having been interested in genetics since high school, Dr. Smith received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Alabama (UA). Following her bachelors, she applied to the graduate program at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to study Cytogenetics under the mentorship of Drs. Wayne and Sara Finley. Upon earning her PhD, she moved to Indianapolis, IN for a fellowship in the genetics department at Indiana University Medical Center studying under another pioneer in the field of Cytogenetics, Dr. Catherine Palmer. Dr. Palmer introduced her to the field of Cancer Cytogenetics, still a primary interest of Dr. Smith’s today.  

After completing her fellowship, Dr. Smith moved to Houston and became the Director of a small private Cytogenetics laboratory, Laboratories for Genetic Services (LGS). While working at LGS, Dr. Smith was able to learn a new technique for analyzing chromosomes, Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA). She returned to Baylor College of Medicine in 2012, this time as a full faculty member and a Director in the Cytogenetics/CMA laboratories.  

Outside of work, Dr. Smith’s interests include singing in her church choir, attending Broadway shows in New York with friends, and scrapbooking.

Position

Associate Professor
Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, United States

Senior Laboratory Director
Cytogenetics & Microarray
Baylor Genetics
Houston, TX, United States

Education

PhD from University of Alabama
Birmingham, AL, United States

Certifications

Clinical Cytogenetics
American Board of Medical Genetics

Publications
An Organismal CNV Mutator Phenotype Restricted to Early Human Development

An Organismal CNV Mutator Phenotype Restricted to Early Human Development. Liu P, Yuan B, Carvalho CM, Wuster A, Walter K, Zhang L, Gambin T, Chong Z, Campbell IM, Coban Akdemir Z, Gelowani V, Writzl K, Bacino CA, Lindsay SJ, Withers M, Gonzaga-Jauregui C, Wiszniewska J, Scull J, Stankiewicz P, Jhangiani SN, Muzny DM, Zhang F, Chen K, Gibbs RA, Rautenstrauss B, Cheung SW, Smith J, Breman A, Shaw CA, Patel A, Hurles ME, Lupski JR. Cell. 2017. Feb 23;168(5):830-842.e7. PMID: 28235197

Clinical exome sequencing reveals locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies

Clinical exome sequencing reveals the locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies. Yuan B, Neira J, Pehlivan, D, Santiago-Sim T, Song X, Rosenfeld J, Posey JE, Patel V, Jin W, Adam MP, Baple EL, Dean J, Fong CT, Hickey SE, Hudgins L, Leon E, Madan-Khetarpal S, Rawlins L, Rustad CF, Stray-Pedersen A, Tveten K, Wenger O, Diaz J, Jenkins L, Martin L, McGuire M, Pietryga M, Ramsdell L, Slattery L, DDD Study, Abid F, Bertuch A, Grange D, Immken L, Schaaf CP, Esch HV, Bi W, Cheung SW, Breman AM, Smith JL, Shaw C, Crosby AH, Eng C, Yang Y, Lupski JR, Xiao R, Liu P. Genet Med. 2019 Mar; 21(3):663-675. PMID: 30158690

A novel microduplication of ARID1B: Clinical, genetic, and proteomic findings

Seabra CM, Szoko N, Erdin S, Ragavendran A, Stortchevoi A, Maciel P, Lundberg K, Schlatzer D, Smith J, Talkowski ME, Gusella JF, Natowicz MR. A novel microduplication of ARID1B: Clinical, genetic, and proteomic findings. Am J Med Genet A 2017 Jul 10. doi: 10.1002ajmg.a.38327 [Epub ahead of print].PMID: 28691782

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Probe Validation for Clinical Use

Jun Gu, Janice L. Smith, and Patricia K. Dowling. Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Probe Validation for Clinical Use. Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1541:101-108. PMID: 27910018

Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development

Chen Y, Bartanus J, Liang D, Zhu H, Breman AM, Smith JL, Wang H, Ren Z, Patel A, Stankiewicz P, Cram DS, Cheung SW, Wu L, Yu F. Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development. Hum Mutat. 2017 Jun;38(6):669-677. PMID: 28247551

Mechanisms for complex chromosomal insertions

Gu S, Szafranski P, Akdemir ZC, Yuan B, Cooper ML, Magriñá MA, Bacino CA, Lalani SR, Breman AM, Smith JL, Patel A, Song RH, Bi W, Cheung SW, Carvalho CM, Stankiewicz P, Lupski JR. Mechanisms for Complex Chromosomal Insertions. PLoS Genet. 2016 Nov 23;12(11):e1006446. PMID: 27880765

Three cases of isolated terminal deletion of chromosome 8p without heart defects presenting with a mild phenotype

Burnside RD, Pappas JG, Sacharow S, Applegate C, Hamosh A, Gadi IK, Jaswaney V, Keitges E, Phillips KK, Potluri VR, Risheg H, Smith JL, Tepperberg JH, Schwartz S, Papenhausen P. Three cases of isolated terminal deletion of chromosome 8p without heart defects presenting with a mild phenotype. Am J Med Genet A 161(4):822-828, 2013. PMID: 23495222

Microdeletion/Microduplication of proximal 15q11.2 between BP1 and BP2: a susceptibility region for neurological dysfunction including developmental and language delay

Burnside RD, Pasion R, Mikhail FM, Carroll AJ, Robin NH, Youngs EL, Gadi IK, Keitges E, Jaswaney VL, Papenhausen PR, Potluri VR, Risheg H, Rush B, Smith JL, Schwartz S, Tepperberg JH, Butler MG. Microdeletion/Microduplication of proximal 15q11.2 between BP1 and BP2: a susceptibility region for neurological dysfunction including developmental and language delay. Hum Genet 130(4):517-528, 2011. PMID: 21359847

Deletion 12q: A second patient with 12q24.31q24.32 deletion

Plotner, P. L., Smith, J. L. and Northrup, H. Deletion 12q: A second patient with 12q24.31q24.32 deletion. Am. J. Med. Genet. 2003; 118A: 350–352. PMID: 12687666

Janice Smith

PhD
Sr. Clinical Director, Cytogenetics

Dr. Janice Smith is the Sr. Clinical Director of Cytogenetics at Baylor Genetics. Prior to joining BG, Dr. Smith served as a leader in cytogenetics laboratories throughout Houston, TX.  

Having been interested in genetics since high school, Dr. Smith received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Alabama (UA). Following her bachelors, she applied to the graduate program at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to study Cytogenetics under the mentorship of Drs. Wayne and Sara Finley. Upon earning her PhD, she moved to Indianapolis, IN for a fellowship in the genetics department at Indiana University Medical Center studying under another pioneer in the field of Cytogenetics, Dr. Catherine Palmer. Dr. Palmer introduced her to the field of Cancer Cytogenetics, still a primary interest of Dr. Smith’s today.  

After completing her fellowship, Dr. Smith moved to Houston and became the Director of a small private Cytogenetics laboratory, Laboratories for Genetic Services (LGS). While working at LGS, Dr. Smith was able to learn a new technique for analyzing chromosomes, Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA). She returned to Baylor College of Medicine in 2012, this time as a full faculty member and a Director in the Cytogenetics/CMA laboratories.  

Outside of work, Dr. Smith’s interests include singing in her church choir, attending Broadway shows in New York with friends, and scrapbooking.

Position

Associate Professor
Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, United States

Senior Laboratory Director
Cytogenetics & Microarray
Baylor Genetics
Houston, TX, United States

Education

PhD from University of Alabama
Birmingham, AL, United States

Certifications

Clinical Cytogenetics
American Board of Medical Genetics

Publications
An Organismal CNV Mutator Phenotype Restricted to Early Human Development

An Organismal CNV Mutator Phenotype Restricted to Early Human Development. Liu P, Yuan B, Carvalho CM, Wuster A, Walter K, Zhang L, Gambin T, Chong Z, Campbell IM, Coban Akdemir Z, Gelowani V, Writzl K, Bacino CA, Lindsay SJ, Withers M, Gonzaga-Jauregui C, Wiszniewska J, Scull J, Stankiewicz P, Jhangiani SN, Muzny DM, Zhang F, Chen K, Gibbs RA, Rautenstrauss B, Cheung SW, Smith J, Breman A, Shaw CA, Patel A, Hurles ME, Lupski JR. Cell. 2017. Feb 23;168(5):830-842.e7. PMID: 28235197

Clinical exome sequencing reveals locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies

Clinical exome sequencing reveals the locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies. Yuan B, Neira J, Pehlivan, D, Santiago-Sim T, Song X, Rosenfeld J, Posey JE, Patel V, Jin W, Adam MP, Baple EL, Dean J, Fong CT, Hickey SE, Hudgins L, Leon E, Madan-Khetarpal S, Rawlins L, Rustad CF, Stray-Pedersen A, Tveten K, Wenger O, Diaz J, Jenkins L, Martin L, McGuire M, Pietryga M, Ramsdell L, Slattery L, DDD Study, Abid F, Bertuch A, Grange D, Immken L, Schaaf CP, Esch HV, Bi W, Cheung SW, Breman AM, Smith JL, Shaw C, Crosby AH, Eng C, Yang Y, Lupski JR, Xiao R, Liu P. Genet Med. 2019 Mar; 21(3):663-675. PMID: 30158690

A novel microduplication of ARID1B: Clinical, genetic, and proteomic findings

Seabra CM, Szoko N, Erdin S, Ragavendran A, Stortchevoi A, Maciel P, Lundberg K, Schlatzer D, Smith J, Talkowski ME, Gusella JF, Natowicz MR. A novel microduplication of ARID1B: Clinical, genetic, and proteomic findings. Am J Med Genet A 2017 Jul 10. doi: 10.1002ajmg.a.38327 [Epub ahead of print].PMID: 28691782

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Probe Validation for Clinical Use

Jun Gu, Janice L. Smith, and Patricia K. Dowling. Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Probe Validation for Clinical Use. Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1541:101-108. PMID: 27910018

Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development

Chen Y, Bartanus J, Liang D, Zhu H, Breman AM, Smith JL, Wang H, Ren Z, Patel A, Stankiewicz P, Cram DS, Cheung SW, Wu L, Yu F. Characterization of chromosomal abnormalities in pregnancy losses reveals critical genes and loci for human early development. Hum Mutat. 2017 Jun;38(6):669-677. PMID: 28247551

Mechanisms for complex chromosomal insertions

Gu S, Szafranski P, Akdemir ZC, Yuan B, Cooper ML, Magriñá MA, Bacino CA, Lalani SR, Breman AM, Smith JL, Patel A, Song RH, Bi W, Cheung SW, Carvalho CM, Stankiewicz P, Lupski JR. Mechanisms for Complex Chromosomal Insertions. PLoS Genet. 2016 Nov 23;12(11):e1006446. PMID: 27880765

Three cases of isolated terminal deletion of chromosome 8p without heart defects presenting with a mild phenotype

Burnside RD, Pappas JG, Sacharow S, Applegate C, Hamosh A, Gadi IK, Jaswaney V, Keitges E, Phillips KK, Potluri VR, Risheg H, Smith JL, Tepperberg JH, Schwartz S, Papenhausen P. Three cases of isolated terminal deletion of chromosome 8p without heart defects presenting with a mild phenotype. Am J Med Genet A 161(4):822-828, 2013. PMID: 23495222

Microdeletion/Microduplication of proximal 15q11.2 between BP1 and BP2: a susceptibility region for neurological dysfunction including developmental and language delay

Burnside RD, Pasion R, Mikhail FM, Carroll AJ, Robin NH, Youngs EL, Gadi IK, Keitges E, Jaswaney VL, Papenhausen PR, Potluri VR, Risheg H, Rush B, Smith JL, Schwartz S, Tepperberg JH, Butler MG. Microdeletion/Microduplication of proximal 15q11.2 between BP1 and BP2: a susceptibility region for neurological dysfunction including developmental and language delay. Hum Genet 130(4):517-528, 2011. PMID: 21359847

Deletion 12q: A second patient with 12q24.31q24.32 deletion

Plotner, P. L., Smith, J. L. and Northrup, H. Deletion 12q: A second patient with 12q24.31q24.32 deletion. Am. J. Med. Genet. 2003; 118A: 350–352. PMID: 12687666