Positions

Overview

  • I am a pediatrician and geneticist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I did my fellowship in genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, after which I accepted a faculty position in the Department of Genetics at UAB in 1991. I am board certified both by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Board of Medical Genetics in Clinical and Medical Biochemical Genetics. My clinical practice is primarily as a general geneticist with expertise in dysmorphology, skeletal dysplasias, and patients with lysosomal storage disorders and inherited disorders of metabolism.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2017 Clinical relevance of small copy-number variants in chromosomal microarray clinical testing.  Genetics in Medicine.  19:377-385. 2017
    2014 Combined array CGH plus SNP genome analyses in a single assay for optimized clinical testing.  European Journal of Human Genetics.  22:79-87. 2014
    2014 Hajdu-Cheney syndrome: Phenotypical progression with de-novo NOTCH2 mutation.  Clinical Dysmorphology.  23:88-94. 2014
    2014 The recurrent distal 22q11.2 microdeletions are often de novo and do not represent a single clinical entity: A proposed categorization system.  Genetics in Medicine.  16:92-100. 2014
    2012 Haploinsufficiency of SOX5 at 12p12.1 is associated with developmental delays with prominent language delay, behavior problems, and mild dysmorphic features.  Human Mutation.  33:728-740. 2012
    2011 Clinically relevant single gene or intragenic deletions encompassing critical neurodevelopmental genes in patients with developmental delay, mental retardation, and/or autism spectrum disorders.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  155:2386-2396. 2011
    2010 Human TUBB3 Mutations Perturb Microtubule Dynamics, Kinesin Interactions, and Axon Guidance.  Cell.  140:74-87. 2010
    2009 A new syndrome with Stargardt macular degeneration, abnormalities of the corpus callosum, mental retardation, and dysmorphic features: A case report of two siblings.  Clinical Dysmorphology.  18:178-180. 2009
    2009 AsktheGeneticistSM: Five years of online experience.  Genetics in Medicine.  11:294-304. 2009
    2009 Genotype-phenotype correlations in Down syndrome identified by array CGH in 30 cases of partial trisomy and partial monosomy chromosome 21.  European Journal of Human Genetics.  17:454-466. 2009
    2008 Distal 22q11.2 microduplication encompassing the BCR gene.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  146:3075-3081. 2008
    2008 Molecular characterization of a patient with an interstitial 1q deletion [del(1)(q24.1q25.3)] and distinctive skeletal abnormalities.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  146:2937-2943. 2008
    2008 Constitutional H19 hypermethylation in a patient with isolated cardiac tumor.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  146:2126-2129. 2008
    2008 Disruption of Neurexin 1 Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  American Journal of Human Genetics.  82:199-207. 2008
    2007 A previously unrecognized microdeletion syndrome on chromosome 22 Band q11.2 encompassing the BCR Gene.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  143:2178-2184. 2007
    2006 Complete trisomy 17p syndrome in a girl with der(14)t(14;17)(p11.2;p11.2).  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  140:1647-1654. 2006
    2006 Oculoauriculovertebral spectrum with 5p15.33-pter deletion.  Clinical Dysmorphology.  15:153-154. 2006
    2004 The fronto-ocular syndrome: Second mother-daughter case [1].  Clinical Genetics.  65:501-502. 2004
    2004 Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: Is 15q26.1-26.2 a Candidate Locus?.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  126 A:183-185. 2004
    2004 Congenital diaphragmatic hernia: is 15q26.1-26.2 a candidate locus?.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  126A:183-185. 2004
    1999 A five-year experience with fragile X screening of high-risk gravid women.  American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  181:789-792. 1999
    1998 Chromosome 18q paracentric inversion in a family with mental retardation and hearing loss.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  76:372-378. 1998
    1997 Instability of the FMR2 trinucleotide repeat region associated with expanded FMR1 alleles.  American Journal of Medical Genetics.  73:447-455. 1997
    1997 Comparison of SSCP analysis and CFLP analysis for mutation detection in the human iduronate 2-sulfatase gene.  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology International.  43:1163-1171. 1997
    1996 Terminal deletion of the long arm of chromosome 4 in a mother and two sons.  Clinical Genetics.  50:538-540. 1996
    1990 DNA from guthrie spots for diagnosis of DMD by multiplex PCR.  Biochemical medicine and metabolic biology.  44:294-295. 1990

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2013 Disorders of bone density, volume, and mineralization.  1-20. 2013

    Education And Training

  • San Juan City Hospital, Residency
  • Baylor College of Medicine, Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico 1983
  • Mayaguez Medical Center, Internship 1984
  • San Juan City Hospital, Residency 1988
  • Baylor College of Medicine, Postdoctoral Fellowship 1991

    • Full Name

  • Maria Descartes