“Paternal Valproate Exposure and Offspring Neurodevelopmental Outcomes” published in Neurology

In collaboration with CGMH and NHRI, this study looks at whether paternal exposure to valproate (a common and effective drug for epilepsy and bipolar disorder etc.) during spermatogenesis would increase the risk of NDD in their children, using the NHIRD database in Taiwan.

This has been a contentious issue since 2023: an initial report by IQVIA using a Nordic registry found significantly elevated risk, prompting a warning in the UK MHRA to advise against valproate use for male patients less than 55 years of age. However, several follow-up studies—now including our non-Nordic data, with several complementary designs to mitigate confounding—reported otherwise (i.e., null association), calling for a reconsideration of valproate regulation in men of reproductive age.

Reference:
Feng, Y.-C. A., Lin, M.-C., Tseng, C.-H., Wu, C.-S., Tsai, M.-H.*, Wang, S.-H.* (2026). Paternal valproate exposure and offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes. Neurology, 107(6), e218375.

Editorial Comment:
Voinescu, P. E. (2026). Paternal valproate and offspring neurodevelopment: A non-Nordic perspective on an unsettled question. Neurology, 107(6), e218516.

“Variability in epilepsy polygenic risk prediction across Taiwanese population and clinical cohorts” published in Epilepsia

Our study examined whether polygenic risk scores—measures that combine the effects of many genetic variants—can help identify people at higher risk of epilepsy in more than 600,000 Taiwanese individuals. We found that these genetic scores performed best in carefully characterized clinical samples and were generally more informative for people with earlier-onset epilepsy, particularly genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). However, their predictive power varied substantially depending on the type of epilepsy and how cases were identified, highlighting the need for caution before using them in clinical practice. Our findings also underscore the importance of improving genetic studies in diverse populations and combining genetic information with richer clinical data to make precision medicine for epilepsy more accurate and equitable.

Reference:
Ke, Y.-S., Tsai, M.-H., Ho, C.-R., Chou, C.-Y., Chen, H.-H., Stevelink, R., …, Sung, S.-F., Lee, M.-C., Chen, J.-T., & Feng, Y.-C. A.* (2026). Variability in epilepsy polygenic risk prediction across Taiwanese population and clinical cohorts. Epilepsia, epi.70353.

Proud of Yi-Syuan Ke for delivering a talk on our work dissecting depression heterogeneity with Transformer architecture

A four-day scientific feast, packed with new advances pushing the frontiers of human genetics. Particularly excited about the growing possibilities of multi-omic data integration, discovery, and new methodologies for deciphering disease mechanisms.

Wishing Ke all the best as she starts her PhD journey at Aarhus University in Denmark!