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Carol Arlene Prescott

Professor of Psychology

Contact Information
E-mail: cprescot@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-2314
Office: SGM 934

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Website
 

Biographical Sketch
Carol Prescott obtained B.A. and M.A. degrees in Experimental Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in clinical research and quantitative methods from the University of Virginia. Her clinical internship at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)  focused on geropsychology. She then had post-doctoral training in psychiatric genetics and epidemiology at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Prescott’s work has been funded by grants from the U.S. National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Dr. Prescott has received several awards in recognition of her research, including the Theodore Reich Prize from the International Society for Psychiatric Genetics and the Fulker Award from the Behavior Genetics Association.
 

Education
Ph.D. Psychology (Clinical Research), University of Virginia, 1991
M.A. Experimental Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, 1985
B.A. Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, 1984
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Professor, University of Southern California, 2005-  
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2000-2005  
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1995-2000  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
The primary goal of Dr. Prescott’s research is to understand the genetic and environmental sources of individual differences in risk for alcohol dependence and other substance use disorders and the mechanisms by which this variation is translated into clinical syndromes. For example, we are examining whether genetic risk for alcoholism is mediated through drinking motives, and how genetic risk interacts with environmental stress to increase risk for alcohol dependence. Other research interests include substance use as a risk factor for other psychological and disease outcomes; treatment outcome studies of co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders of homeless adults; and gene-environment interactions in cognition and health in older age.
 

Research Specialties
Cognition, Behavior Genetics, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Substance Use Disorders, Psychopathology, Longitudinal Data Analysis, Research Methodology
 

Funded Research

Contracts and Grants Awarded
Assessing and Improving Measures of Cognition in the HRS (NIA), John J. McArdle, Carol Prescott (Co-Investigator), $5,732,533, 05/01/2011-04/30/2016  
Intergenerational Transmission of Alcohol Involvement (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), Susan Luczak, Carol Prescott (Co-Investigator), $2,499,999, 09/10/2010-06/30/2015  
Real-Time Assessment of Alcohol Use Across ALDH2 Genotypes (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), Susan Luczak, Carol Prescott (Co-Inv); 5% effort, $274,000, 06/01/2009-09/30/2012  
Interactions of Genes and Childhood Adversity in the Lifetime Dynamics of Cognitive Abilities (National Institute on Aging), Carol Prescott, John Joseph McArdle, $234,921, 06/01/2009-04/30/2012  
 

Proposals Submitted
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Funded, Susan Luczak, Carol Prescott (Co-Inv) 5% effort, $2,499,999, 2009-2010   
National Institute on Aging, Funded, Margaret Gatz, $99,000, 06/2010  
 

Conferences and Other Presentations

Conference Presentations
"Applying Project TALENT sibling and classmate data to evaluate community and family influences on cognitive abilities.", Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, Talk/Oral Presentation, Vancouver, BC, 10/2012  
"Does the maternal immunity hypothesis explain individual differences in cognition?", Behavior Genetics Association, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Edinburgh, Scotland, 07/2012  
"Project TALENT Twin Data", Gerontological Society of America, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Boston, MA, 11/2011  
"Using Project TALENT twin data to estimate the range of the components of variance of high-order cognition", Behavior Genetics Association, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Abstract, Newport, Rhode Island, 07/2011  
"Academic performance and alcohol use in high school: Longitudinal associations and genetic environmental contributions in male twins", Behavior Genetics Association, Poster, Refereed Minneapolis, MN, 06/2009  
"Gender differences in mediation of genetic risk for alcohol dependence by drinking motives", Research Society on Alcoholism, Talk/Oral Presentation, San Diego, CA, Invited, 06/2009  
 

Other Presentations
"Genetic epidemiology of substance use disorders", Short Course on the Genetics of Addiction, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbour, ME, 08/2011  
"Twin Studies of Addictions", Short Course on Genetics of Addictions, Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbour ME, 08/2010  
"Using data mining to explore genetic heterogeneity in risk for alcohol dependence", Workshop on Exploratory Data Mining for Understanding Risk, Missillac, France, 07/2010  
"Using genetically informative samples to study etiology & heterogeneity in substance use disorders. ", Invited Talk, Research Institute on Addictions, State University at Buffalo, NY, 05/2010  
 

Publications

Abstract
Prescott, C. A., McArdle, J. J., Lapham, S., Plotts, C. (2011). Using Project Talent twin data to estimate the range of the components of variance of high-order cognition. Behavioral Genetics.
 

Book
Kendler, K. S., Prescott, C. A. (2006). Genes, Environment and Psychopathology: Understanding the Causes of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders. Boston, MA: Guilford Press.
 

Journal Article
Hack, L. M., Kalsi, G., Aliev, F., Kuo, P. H., Prescott, C. A., Patterson, D. G., Walsh, D., Dick, D. M., Riley, B. P., Kendler, K. S. (2011). Limited associations of dopamine system genes with alcohol dependence and related traits in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence (IASPSAD). Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research. Vol. 35, pp. 376-385.
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., Prescott, C. A. (2011). Toward a comprehensive developmental model for alcohol use disorders in men. Twin Research and Human Genetics. Vol. 14, pp. 1-15.
Lee, L. O., Young-Wolff, K. C., Kendler, K. S., Prescott, C. A. (2011). The effects of age at drinking onset and stressful life events on alcohol use in adulthood: A replication and extension using a population-based twin sample. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research.
Maes, H. H., Neale, M. C., Chen, X., Chen, J., Prescott, C. A., Kendler, K. S. (2011). A twin association study of nicotine dependence with markers in the CHRNA3 and CHRNA5 genes. Behavioral Genetics. Vol. 41, pp. 680-690.
Young-Wolff, K. C., Enoch, M. A., Prescott, C. A. (2011). The influence of gene-environment interactions on alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders: A comprehensive review. Clinical Psychology Review. Vol. 31, pp. 800-816.
Young-Wolff, K. C., Kendler, K. S., Ericson, M. L., Prescott, C. A. (2011). Accounting for the association between childhood maltreatment and alcohol-use disorders in males: A twin study. Psychological Medicine. Vol. 41, pp. 59-70.
McArdle, J. J., Prescott, C. A. (2010). Contemporary modeling of gene-by-environment effects in randomized multivariate longitudinal studies. Perspectives in Psychological Science. Vol. 5, pp. 606-621.
Kuo, P., Neale, M. C., Walsh, D., Patterson, D. G., Riley, B., Prescott, C. A., Kendler, K. S. (2010). Genome-wide linkage scans for major depression in individuals with alcohol dependence. Journal of Psychiatric Research. Vol. 44, pp. 616-619.
Kalsi, G., Kuo, P., Alexander, J., MuMichael, O., Patterson, D. G., Walsh, D., Zhao, Z., Schuckit, M., Nurnberger, J., Edenberg, H., Kramer, J., Hesselbrock, V., Tischfield, J. A., Vladimirov, V., Prescott, C. A., Dick, D., Kendler, K. S., Riley, B. P. (2010). A systematic gene-based screen of chr4q22-q32 identifies association of a novel susceptibility gene, DKK2, with the quantitative trait of alcohol dependence symptom counts. Hum Mol Genet. Vol. 19 (12), pp. 2497-506.
Kendler, K. S., Myers, J., Dick, D., Prescott, C. A. (2010). The relationship between genetic influences on alcohol dependence and on patterns of alcohol consumption. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. Vol. 34 (6), pp. 1058-65.
Sintov, N. D., Kendler, K. S., Young-Wolff, K. C., Walsh, D., Patterson, D. G., Prescott, C. A. (2010). Empirically defined subtypes of alcohol dependence in an Irish family sample. Drug Alcohol Depend. Vol. 107, pp. 230-236.
Young-Wolff, K. C., Kendler, K. S., Ericscon, M. L., Prescott, C. A. (2010). Accounting for the association between childhood maltreatment and alcohol-use disorders in males: A twin study. Psychol Med. pp. 1-12.
Kertes, D. A., Kalsi, G., Kuo, P. H., Prescott, C. A., Patterson, D. G., Walsh, D., Kendler, K. S., Riley, B. P. (2010). Neurotransmitter and neuromodulator genes associated with a history of depressive symptoms in individuals with alcohol dependence. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research.
Kalsi, G., Prescott, C. A., Kendler, K. S., Riley, B. P. (2009). Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of alcohol dependence. Trends in Genetics. Vol. 25, pp. 49-55.
Sintov, N. D., Kendler, K. S., Walsh, D., Patterson, D. G., Prescott, C. A. (2009). Predictors of illicit substance dependence among individuals with alcohol dependence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Vol. 70, pp. 269-278.
Young-Wolff, K. C., Kendler, K. S., Sintov, N. D., Prescott, C. A. (2009). Mood-related drinking motives mediate the familial association between major depression and alcohol dependence. Alcoholism Clinical Experimental Research. Vol. 33, pp. 1476-1486.
Kuo, P., Kalsi, G., Prescott, C. A., Hodgkinson, C. A., Goldman, D., Alexander, J., van den Oord, E. J., Chen, X., Sullivan, P. F., Patterson, D. G., Walsh, D., Kendler, K. S., Riley, B. P. (2009). Associations of glutamate decarboxylase genes with initial sensitivity and age-at-onset of alcohol dependence in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Vol. 101, pp. 80-87.
Kendler, K. S., Jacobson, K. C., Gardner, C. O., Gillespie, N., Aggen, S. A., Prescott, C. A. (2007). Creating a social world: A developmental twin study of peer-group deviance. Archives of General Psychiatry. Vol. 64 (8), pp. 958-965.
Prescott, C. A., Kuhn, J. W., Pedersen, N. L. (2007). Twin pair resemblance for psychiatric hospitalization in the Swedish Twin Registry: a 32-year follow-up study of 29,602 twin pairs. Behavior Genetics. Vol. 37 (4), pp. 547-558.
Kendler, K. S., Kuo, P., Webb, B. T., Kalsi, G., Neale, M. C., Sullivan, P. F., Walsh, D., Patterson, D. G., Riley, B. P., Prescott, C. A. (2006). A joint genome-wide linkage analysis of symptoms of alcohol dependence and conduct disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research/Blackwell Publishing. Vol. 30 (12), pp. 1972-1977.
Kuo, P., Neale, M. C., Riley, B. P., Webb, B. T., Sullivan, P. F., Patterson, D. G., van den Oord, E. J., Walsh, D., Kendler, K. S., Prescott, C. A. (2006). Identification of susceptibility loci for alcohol-related traits in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research/Blackwell Publishing. Vol. 30 (11), pp. 1807-1816.
Riley, B. P., Kalsi, G., Kuo, P., Vladimirov, V., Thiselton, D. L., Vittum, J., Wormley, B., Grotewiel, M. S., Patterson, D. G., Sullivan, P. F., van den Oord, E. J., Walsh, D., Kendler, K. S., Prescott, C. A. (2006). Alcohol dependence is associated with the ZNF699 gene, a human locus related to Drosophila hangover, in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence (IASPSAD) sample. Molecular Psychiatry/Nature Publishing Group. Vol. 11 (11), pp. 1025-1031.
Prescott, C. A., Madden, P. A., Stallings, M. C. (2006). Challenges in genetic studies of the etiology of substance use and substance use disorders. Behavior Genetics/Kluwer Academic Press. Vol. 36 (4), pp. 473-482.
Prescott, C. A., Sullivan, P. F., Kuo, P., Webb, B. T., Vittum, J., Patterson, D. G., Thiselton, D. L., Myers, J. M., Devitt, M., Halberstadt, L. J., Robinson, V. P., Neale, M. C., van den Oord, E. J., Walsh, D., Riley, B. P., Kendler, K. S. (2006). Genomewide linkage study in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence: Evidence for a susceptibility region for symptoms of alcohol dependence on chromosome 4. Molecular Psychiatry/Nature Publishing Group. Vol. 11, pp. 603-611.
Prescott, C. A., Sullivan, P. F., Myers, J. M., Patterson, D. G., Devitt, M., Halberstadt, L. J., Walsh, D., Kendler, K. S. (2005). The Irish Affected Sib Pair Study of Alcohol Dependence. Study methodology and validation of diagnosis by interview and family history. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research/Blackwell Publishing. Vol. 29 (3), pp. 417-429.
Schmitt, J. E., Prescott, C. A., Gardner, C. O., Neale, M. C., Kendler, K. S. (2005). The differential heritability of regular tobacco use based on method of administration. Twin Research and Human Genetics/International Society for Twin Studies. Vol. 8, pp. 60-62.
Hettema, J. M., Prescott, C. A., Myers, J. M., Neale, M. C., Kendler, K. S. (2005). The structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for anxiety disorders in men and women. Archives of General Psychiatry/American Medical Association. Vol. 62, pp. 182-189.
 

Honors and Awards
Elected President, Behavior Genetics Association, 7/2012-  
Fulker Award, Behavior Genetics Association, 2007  
Theodore Reich Young Investigator Award, International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, 2004  
 
 
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