Ignatia Barbara Van den Veyver, M.D.

Henry and Emma Meyer Chair and Professor

(832) 826-7500

Email

iveyver@bcm.edu

Positions

Henry and Emma Meyer Chair and Professor: Obstetrics and Gynecology
Maternal Fetal Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, United States

Professor: Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Director of Prenatal & Reproductive Genetics: Baylor College of Medicine Texas Children's Hospital
Houston, Texas, United States

Director: Clinical Translational Research Certificate of Added Qualification (CTR-CAQ) Program
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Baylor College of Medicine

Faculty Member: Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute
Texas Children's Hospital
Houston, Texas, United States

Faculty Member: Graduate Programs in Development, Disease Models & Therapeutics; Graduate Program in Genetics & Genomics; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Baylor College of Medicine

Addresses

Jan & Dan Duncan Neurological (Office): Room: NRI-1025.14
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: (832) 824-8156
iveyver@bcm.edu

Texas Children's Hospital Pavilion for Women (Clinic): 6651 Main Street Suite F420
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: (832) 826-7500
obgyn@bcm.edu

Education

Fellowship at Baylor College Of Medicine: 06/1993 - Houston, Texas, United States; Maternal-Fetal Medicine

MD from University of Antwerp: 07/1986 - Antwerp, Belgium

Residency at University Of Antwerp affiliated hospitals: 07/1991 - Antwerp, Belgium; Obstetrics and Gynecology

Clinical Fellowship at Baylor College Of Medicine: 06/1996 - Houston, Texas, United States; Genetics

Professional Interests

Genetics and epigenetics of reproductive disorders; Aicardi syndrome; prenatal gene-environment interactions; prenatal genetics

Professional Statement

As a physician-scientist, my research includes translational and basic research on the molecular genetics and epigenetics of human developmental and reproductive disorders with the ultimate goal of improving the diagnosis and treatment for these conditions.

Integrating clinical research with experiments in cell lines and mouse models, my lab studies maternal effect gene mutations that cause a range of health issues from infertility to pregnancy loss with multi-locus imprinting abnormalities, including molar pregnancies, and offspring with an array of birth defects.

We also do genetic research towards finding the cause of Aicardi syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder in girls that affects development of eyes and brain, causing severe seizures, and intellectual and developmental disability.

My clinical role as Director of Prenatal and Reproductive Genetics gives a unique perspective on my translational research which focuses on exploring novel methods for reproductive and prenatal genetic screening and testing, and the complexities of their integration into preconception and prenatal and perinatal care. I participated in the development and early implementation of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for prenatal diagnosis and in the earliest studies on exome sequencing for prenatal diagnosis. Today, I serve as a co-PI on the large multicenter PrenatalSEQ study which evaluates different aspects of whole genome sequencing for prenatal diagnosis, including detection rates, outcomes, and psychosocial impacts of obtaining a genetic diagnosis using this new test. We are also studying new approaches for non-invasive screening for fetal chromosomal and single gene disorders, including development and validation of methods for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis using circulating fetal cells, cell-free DNA and other non-invasive markers of fetal health.

As an active translational research educator, I am passionate about mentoring the research of postdoctoral researchers, clinical fellows, junior faculty and graduate students. After being co-director for more than ten years of a graduate program in translational research, I launched a new Clinical Translational Research Certificate of Added Qualification (CTR-CAQ) program that aims to integrate translational research training into the graduate school curriculum and is funded in part by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32).

My roles as researcher, clinician and educator positively impact my leadership in the field of prenatal genetics. I served as president of the International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis (2016-2018), and I am currently an associate editor of Prenatal Diagnosis, and co-chair of the ClinGen Prenatal Gene Curation Expert Panel, focused on better understanding the gene variants impacting non-immune hydrops, other severe prenatal conditions, and stillbirth.

Websites

VIICTR Publications List

PUBMED Publications

Selected Publications

Anvar Z Jochum MD Chakchouk I Sharif M Demond H To AK Kraushaar DC Wan YW Mari MC Andrews S Kelsey G Van den Veyver IB. " Maternal loss of mouse Nlrp2 alters the transcriptome and DNA methylome in GV oocytes and impairs zygotic genome activation in embryos " Clin Epigenet. 2025 Jun ; 17 : 92.
Pubmed PMID: 40462191.
Zemet R Parobek CM Adams AD Maktabi MA Shay L Meng L Liu P Dai H Xia F Eng C Van den Veyver IB Vossaert L. " Diagnostic yield of exome sequencing for pregnancies with and without fetal anomalies and for stillbirth " Prenat Diagn. 2025 Jul ; 45 : 1313-1324.
Pubmed PMID: 40423626.
Anvar Z Chakchouk I Sharif M Mahadevan S Nasiotis ET Su L Liu Z Wan YW Van den Veyver IB. " Loss of the maternal effect gene Nlrp2 alters the transcriptome of ovulated mouse oocytes and impacts expression of histone demethylase KDM1B " Reprod Sci. 2023 Sep ; 30 : 2780-2793.
Pubmed PMID: 36976514.
Crovetti B, Maktabi MA, Erfani H, Panchalee T, Wang Q, Vossaert L, Van den Veyver I. " Circulating trophoblast numbers as a potential marker for pregnancy complications. " Prenat Diagn.. 2021 ; 42 : 1182-9.
Pubmed PMID: 35765264.
Anvar Z, Chakchouk I, Demond H, Sharif M, Kelsey G, Van den Veyver IB. " DNA Methylation Dynamics in the Female Germline and Maternal-Effect Mutations That Disrupt Genomic Imprinting. " Genes (Basel). 2021 ; 12 : 1214.
Pubmed PMID: 34440388.
Mahadevan S, Sathappan V, Utama B, Lorenzo I, Kaskar K, Van den Veyver IB. " Maternally expressed NLRP2 links the subcortical maternal complex (SCMC) to fertility, embryogenesis and epigenetic reprogramming. " Sci Rep.. 2017 ; 7 : 44667.
Pubmed PMID: 28317850.
Wang X, Sutton VR, Eble TN, Lewis RA, Gunaratne P, Patel A, Van den Veyver IB. " A genome-wide screen for copy number alterations in Aicardi syndrome " Am J Med Genet A. 2009 Oct ; 149 (10) : 2113-21.
Pubmed PMID: 19760649.
Kou YC, Shao L, Peng HH, Rosetta R, del Gaudio D, Wagner AF, Al-Hussaini TK, Van den Veyver IB. " A recurrent intragenic genomic duplication, other novel mutations in NLRP7 and imprinting defects in recurrent biparental hydatidiform moles. " Mol. Hum. Reprod.. 2008 Jan ; 14 (1) : 33-40.
Pubmed PMID: 18039680.
Balasa A, Sanchez-Valle A, Sadikovic B, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Bravo J, Chen L, Liu W, Wen S, Fiorotto ML, Van den Veyver IB. " Chronic maternal protein deprivation in mice is associated with overexpression of the cohesin-mediator complex in liver of their offspring " J Nutr. 2011 Dec ; 141 (12) : 2106-12.
Pubmed PMID: 22013202.
Liu W, Shaver TM, Balasa A, Ljungberg MC, Wang X, Wen S, Nguyen H, Van den Veyver IB. " Deletion of Porcn in mice leads to multiple developmental defects and models human focal dermal hypoplasia (Goltz syndrome) " PLoS ONE. 2012 ; 7 (3) : e32331.
Pubmed PMID: 22412863.
Sutton VR, Hopkins BJ, Eble TN, Gambhir N, Lewis RA, Van den Veyver IB. " Facial and physical features of Aicardi syndrome: infants to teenagers. " Am. J. Med. Genet. A. 2005 Oct 15; 138 (3) : 254-8.
Pubmed PMID: 16158440.
Moglabey YB, Kircheisen R, Seoud M, El Mogharbel N, Van den Veyver I, Slim R. " Genetic mapping of a maternal locus responsible for familial hydatidiform moles. " Hum. Mol. Genet.. 1999 Apr ; 8 (4) : 667-71.
Pubmed PMID: 10072436.
Van den Veyver IB. " Microphthalmia with linear skin defects (MLS), Aicardi, and Goltz syndromes: are they related X-linked dominant male-lethal disorders? " Cytogenet. Genome Res.. 2002 ; 99 (41278) : 289-96.
Pubmed PMID: 12900577.
Wang X, Reid Sutton V, Omar Peraza-Llanes J, Yu Z, Rosetta R, Kou YC, Eble TN, Patel A, Thaller C, Fang P, Van den Veyver IB. " Mutations in X-linked PORCN, a putative regulator of Wnt signaling, cause focal dermal hypoplasia " Nat Genet. 2007 Jul ; 39 (7) : 836-8.
Pubmed PMID: 17546030.
Hopkins B, Sutton VR, Lewis RA, Van den Veyver I, Clark G. " Neuroimaging aspects of Aicardi syndrome. " Am. J. Med. Genet. A. 2008 Nov 15; 146 (22) : 2871-8.
Pubmed PMID: 18925666.
Mahadevan S, Wen S, Wan Y-W, Peng H-H, Otta S, Liu Z, Iacovino M, Mahen EM, Kyba M, Sadikovic B, Van den Veyver IB. " NLRP7 affects trophoblast lineage differentiation, binds to overexpressed YY1 and alters CpG methylation " Hum Mol Genet. 2014 ; 23 (3) : 706-16.
Pubmed PMID: 24105472.
Mahadevan SK, Wen S, Balasa A, Fruhman G, Mateus J, Wagner A, Al-Hussaini T, Van den Veyver IB. " No evidence for mutations in NLRP7 and KHDC3L in women with androgenetic hydatidiform moles " Prenat Diagn. 2013 ; 33 (13) : 1242-7.
Pubmed PMID: 24105752.
Eble TN, Sutton VR, Sangi-Haghpeykar H, Wang X, Jin W, Lewis RA, Fang P, Van den Veyver IB. " Non-random X chromosome inactivation in Aicardi syndrome " Hum Genet. 2009 Mar ; 125 (2) : 211-6.
Pubmed PMID: 19116729.
Fruhman G, Eble TN, Gambhir N, Sutton VR, Van den Veyver IB, Lewis RA. " Ophthalmologic findings in Aicardi syndrome. " J AAPOS. 2012 Jun ; 16 (3) : 238-41.
Pubmed PMID: 22681940.
Breman A, Pursley AN, Hixson P, Bi W, Ward P, Bacino CA, Shaw C, Lupski JR, Beaudet A, Patel A, Cheung SW, Van den Veyver I. " Prenatal chromosomal microarray analysis in a diagnostic laboratory; experience with >1000 cases and review of the literature " Prenat Diagn. 2012 Apr ; 32 (4) : 351-61.
Pubmed PMID: 22467166.
Emrick LT, Murphy L, Shamshirsaz AA, Ruano R, Cassady CI, Liu L, Chang F, Sutton VR, Li M, Van den Veyver IB.. " Prenatal diagnosis of CLOVES syndrome confirmed by detection of a mosaic PIK3CA mutation in cultured amniocytes " Am J Med Genet A. 2014 Jul 14;
Pubmed PMID: 25044986.
Van den Veyver IB, Panichkul PP, Antalffy BA, Sun Y, Hunter JV, Armstrong DD. " Presence of filamin in the astrocytic inclusions of Aicardi syndrome. " Pediatr. Neurol.. 2004 Jan ; 30 (1) : 41470.
Pubmed PMID: 14738943.
Amir RE, Van den Veyver IB, Wan M, Tran CQ, Francke U, Zoghbi HY. " Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in X-linked MECP2, encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2. " Nat. Genet.. 1999 Oct ; 23 (2) : 185-8.
Pubmed PMID: 10508514.