Margarita Saenz, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Practice, Pediatrics-Clinical Genetics and Metabolism

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Medical School:
  • MD, University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center (2005)
Undergraduate School:
  • BS, Colorado State University - Pueblo (CO) (2000)
Internship:
  • University of Arizona Program (2006)
Fellowships:
  • University of Colorado (University Hospital) Program, Medical Genetics and Genomics (2009)
  • University of Colorado (University Hospital) Program (2010)
Languages: English
Department: Pediatrics-Clinical Genetics and Metabolism

Publications

  • Tessadori F, Duran K, Knapp K, Fellner M, Smithson S, Beleza Meireles A, Elting MW, Waisfisz Q, O'Donnell-Luria A, Nowak C, Douglas J, Ronan A, Brunet T, Kotzaeridou U, Svihovec S, Saenz MS, Thiffault I, Del Viso F, Devine P, Rego S, Tenney J, van Haeringen A, Ruivenkamp CAL, Koene S, Robertson SP, Deshpande C, Pfundt R, Verbeek N, van de Kamp JM, Weiss JMM, Ruiz A, Gabau E, Banne E, Pepler A, Bottani A, Laurent S, Guipponi M, Bijlsma E, Bruel AL, Sorlin A, Willis M, Powis Z, Smol T, Vincent-Delorme C, Baralle D, Colin E, Revencu N, Calpena E, Wilkie AOM, Chopra M, Cormier-Daire V, Keren B, Afenjar A, Niceta M, Terracciano A, Specchio N, Tartaglia M, Rio M, Barcia G, Rondeau S, Colson C, Bakkers J, Mace PD, Bicknell LS, van Haaften G. Recurrent de novo missense variants across multiple histone H4 genes underlie a neurodevelopmental syndrome. Am J Hum Genet. 2022 Apr 7;109(4):750-758. PubMed PMID: 35202563
  • Chen CA, Lattier J, Zhu W, Rosenfeld J, Wang L, Scott TM, Du H, Patel V, Dang A, Magoulas P, Streff H, Sebastian J, Svihovec S, Curry K, Delgado MR, Hanchard NA, Lalani S, Marom R, Madan-Khetarpal S, Saenz M, Dai H, Meng L, Xia F, Bi W, Liu P, Posey JE, Scott DA, Lupski JR, Eng CM, Xiao R, Yuan B. Retrospective analysis of a clinical exome sequencing cohort reveals the mutational spectrum and identifies candidate disease-associated loci for BAFopathies. Genet Med. 2022 Feb;24(2):364-373. PubMed PMID: 34906496
  • manuscript "Mutations in the Elp2 subunit of Elongator perturb the epitranscriptome and lead to a complex neurodevelopmental phenotype including intellectual disability and autism" (reference number: NCOMMS-20-19366C),
  • Chen CA, Lattier J, Zhu W, Rosenfeld J, Wang L, Scott TM, Du H, Patel V, Dang A, Magoulas P, Streff H, Sebastian J, Svihovec S, Curry K, Delgado MR, Hanchard NA, Lalani S, Marom R, Madan-Khetarpal S, Saenz M, Dai H, Meng L, Xia F, Bi W, Liu P, Posey JE, Scott DA, Lupski JR, Eng CM, Xiao R, Yuan B. Retrospective analysis of a clinical exome sequencing cohort reveals the mutational spectrum and identifies candidate disease-associated loci for BAFopathies. Genet Med. 2021 Nov 16. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34906496
  • Park K, Hoff KJ, Wethekam L, Stence N, Saenz M, Moore JK. Kinetically Stabilizing Mutations in Beta Tubulins Create Isotype-Specific Brain Malformations. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021;9:765992. PubMed PMID: 34869359
  • Kojic M, Gawda T, Gaik M, Begg A, Salerno-Kochan A, Kurniawan ND, Jones A, Drozdzyk K, Koscielniak A, Chramiec-Glabik A, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Kasherman M, Shim WJ, Sinniah E, Genovesi LA, Abrahamsen RK, Fenger CD, Madsen CG, Cohen JS, Fatemi A, Stark Z, Lunke S, Lee J, Hansen JK, Boxill MF, Keren B, Marey I, Saenz MS, Brown K, Alexander SA, Mureev S, Batzilla A, Davis MJ, Piper M, Bodén M, Burne THJ, Palpant NJ, Møller RS, Glatt S, Wainwright BJ. Elp2 mutations perturb the epitranscriptome and lead to a complex neurodevelopmental phenotype. Nat Commun. 2021 May 11;12(1):2678. PubMed PMID: 33976153
  • Rots D, Chater-Diehl E, Dingemans AJM, Goodman SJ, Siu MT, Cytrynbaum C, Choufani S, Hoang N, Walker S, Awamleh Z, Charkow J, Meyn S, Pfundt R, Rinne T, Gardeitchik T, de Vries BBA, Deden AC, Leenders E, Kwint M, Stumpel CTRM, Stevens SJC, Vermeulen JR, van Harssel JVT, Bosch DGM, van Gassen KLI, van Binsbergen E, de Geus CM, Brackel H, Hempel M, Lessel D, Denecke J, Slavotinek A, Strober J, Crunk A, Folk L, Wentzensen IM, Yang H, Zou F, Millan F, Person R, Xie Y, Liu S, Ousager LB, Larsen M, Schultz-Rogers L, Morava E, Klee EW, Berry IR, Campbell J, Lindstrom K, Pruniski B, Neumeyer AM, Radley JA, Phornphutkul C, Schmidt B, Wilson WG, Õunap K, Reinson K, Pajusalu S, van Haeringen A, Ruivenkamp C, Cuperus R, Santos-Simarro F, Palomares-Bralo M, Pacio-Míguez M, Ritter A, Bhoj E, Tønne E, Tveten K, Cappuccio G, Brunetti-Pierri N, Rowe L, Bunn J, Saenz M, Platzer K, Mertens M, Caluseriu O, Nowaczyk MJM, Cohn RD, Kannu P, Alkhunaizi E, Chitayat D, Scherer SW, Brunner HG, Vissers LELM, Kleefstra T, Koolen DA, Weksberg R. Truncating SRCAP variants outside the Floating-Harbor syndrome locus cause a distinct neurodevelopmental disorder with a specific DNA methylation signature. Am J Hum Genet. 2021 Jun 3;108(6):1053-1068. PubMed PMID: 33909990
  • Begemann A, Sticht H, Begtrup A, Vitobello A, Faivre L, Banka S, Alhaddad B, Asadollahi R, Becker J, Bierhals T, Brown KE, Bruel AL, Brunet T, Carneiro M, Cremer K, Day R, Denommé-Pichon AS, Dyment DA, Engels H, Fisher R, Goh ES, Hajianpour MJ, Haertel LRM, Hauer N, Hempel M, Herget T, Johannsen J, Kraus C, Le Guyader G, Lesca G, Mau-Them FT, McDermott JH, McWalter K, Meyer P, Õunap K, Popp B, Reimand T, Riedhammer KM, Russo M, Sadleir LG, Saenz M, Schiff M, Schuler E, Syrbe S, Van der Ven AT, Verloes A, Willems M, Zweier C, Steindl K, Zweier M, Rauch A. New insights into the clinical and molecular spectrum of the novel CYFIP2-related neurodevelopmental disorder and impairment of the WRC-mediated actin dynamics. Genet Med. 2021 Mar;23(3):543-554. PubMed PMID: 33149277
  • Jacobs EZ, Brown K, Byler MC, D'haenens E, Dheedene A, Henderson LB, Humberson JB, van Jaarsveld RH, Kanani F, Lebel RR, Millan F, Oegema R, Oostra A, Parker MJ, Rhodes L, Saenz M, Seaver LH, Si Y, Vanlander A, Vergult S, Callewaert B. Expanding the molecular spectrum and the neurological phenotype related to CAMTA1 variants. Clin Genet. 2021 Feb;99(2):259-268. PubMed PMID: 33131045
  • Park K, Hoff KJ, Wethekam L, Stence N, Saenz M, Moore JK. Kinetically Stabilizing Mutations in Beta Tubulins Create Isotype-Specific Brain Malformations. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021;9:765992. PubMed PMID: 34869359
  • Kojic M, Gawda T, Gaik M, Begg A, Salerno-Kochan A, Kurniawan ND, Jones A, Drozdzyk K, Koscielniak A, Chramiec-Glabik A, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Kasherman M, Shim WJ, Sinniah E, Genovesi LA, Abrahamsen RK, Fenger CD, Madsen CG, Cohen JS, Fatemi A, Stark Z, Lunke S, Lee J, Hansen JK, Boxill MF, Keren B, Marey I, Saenz MS, Brown K, Alexander SA, Mureev S, Batzilla A, Davis MJ, Piper M, Bodén M, Burne THJ, Palpant NJ, Møller RS, Glatt S, Wainwright BJ. Elp2 mutations perturb the epitranscriptome and lead to a complex neurodevelopmental phenotype. Nat Commun. 2021 May 11;12(1):2678. PubMed PMID: 33976153
  • Rots D, Chater-Diehl E, Dingemans AJM, Goodman SJ, Siu MT, Cytrynbaum C, Choufani S, Hoang N, Walker S, Awamleh Z, Charkow J, Meyn S, Pfundt R, Rinne T, Gardeitchik T, de Vries BBA, Deden AC, Leenders E, Kwint M, Stumpel CTRM, Stevens SJC, Vermeulen JR, van Harssel JVT, Bosch DGM, van Gassen KLI, van Binsbergen E, de Geus CM, Brackel H, Hempel M, Lessel D, Denecke J, Slavotinek A, Strober J, Crunk A, Folk L, Wentzensen IM, Yang H, Zou F, Millan F, Person R, Xie Y, Liu S, Ousager LB, Larsen M, Schultz-Rogers L, Morava E, Klee EW, Berry IR, Campbell J, Lindstrom K, Pruniski B, Neumeyer AM, Radley JA, Phornphutkul C, Schmidt B, Wilson WG, Õunap K, Reinson K, Pajusalu S, van Haeringen A, Ruivenkamp C, Cuperus R, Santos-Simarro F, Palomares-Bralo M, Pacio-Míguez M, Ritter A, Bhoj E, Tønne E, Tveten K, Cappuccio G, Brunetti-Pierri N, Rowe L, Bunn J, Saenz M, Platzer K, Mertens M, Caluseriu O, Nowaczyk MJM, Cohn RD, Kannu P, Alkhunaizi E, Chitayat D, Scherer SW, Brunner HG, Vissers LELM, Kleefstra T, Koolen DA, Weksberg R. Truncating SRCAP variants outside the Floating-Harbor syndrome locus cause a distinct neurodevelopmental disorder with a specific DNA methylation signature. Am J Hum Genet. 2021 Jun 3;108(6):1053-1068. PubMed PMID: 33909990
  • Begemann A, Sticht H, Begtrup A, Vitobello A, Faivre L, Banka S, Alhaddad B, Asadollahi R, Becker J, Bierhals T, Brown KE, Bruel AL, Brunet T, Carneiro M, Cremer K, Day R, Denommé-Pichon AS, Dyment DA, Engels H, Fisher R, Goh ES, Hajianpour MJ, Haertel LRM, Hauer N, Hempel M, Herget T, Johannsen J, Kraus C, Le Guyader G, Lesca G, Mau-Them FT, McDermott JH, McWalter K, Meyer P, Õunap K, Popp B, Reimand T, Riedhammer KM, Russo M, Sadleir LG, Saenz M, Schiff M, Schuler E, Syrbe S, Van der Ven AT, Verloes A, Willems M, Zweier C, Steindl K, Zweier M, Rauch A. New insights into the clinical and molecular spectrum of the novel CYFIP2-related neurodevelopmental disorder and impairment of the WRC-mediated actin dynamics. Genet Med. 2021 Mar;23(3):543-554. PubMed PMID: 33149277
  • Jacobs EZ, Brown K, Byler MC, D'haenens E, Dheedene A, Henderson LB, Humberson JB, van Jaarsveld RH, Kanani F, Lebel RR, Millan F, Oegema R, Oostra A, Parker MJ, Rhodes L, Saenz M, Seaver LH, Si Y, Vanlander A, Vergult S, Callewaert B. Expanding the molecular spectrum and the neurological phenotype related to CAMTA1 variants. Clin Genet. 2021 Feb;99(2):259-268. PubMed PMID: 33131045
  • Begemann A, Sticht H, Begtrup A, Vitobello A, Faivre L, Banka S, Alhaddad B, Asadollahi R, Becker J, Bierhals T, Brown KE, Bruel AL, Brunet T, Carneiro M, Cremer K, Day R, Denommé-Pichon AS, Dyment DA, Engels H, Fisher R, Goh ES, Hajianpour MJ, Haertel LRM, Hauer N, Hempel M, Herget T, Johannsen J, Kraus C, Le Guyader G, Lesca G, Mau-Them FT, McDermott JH, McWalter K, Meyer P, Õunap K, Popp B, Reimand T, Riedhammer KM, Russo M, Sadleir LG, Saenz M, Schiff M, Schuler E, Syrbe S, Van der Ven AT, Verloes A, Willems M, Zweier C, Steindl K, Zweier M, Rauch A. New insights into the clinical and molecular spectrum of the novel CYFIP2-related neurodevelopmental disorder and impairment of the WRC-mediated actin dynamics. Genet Med. 2020 Nov 5. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33149277
  • Jacobs EZ, Brown K, Byler MC, D'haenens E, Dheedene A, Henderson LB, Humberson JB, van Jaarsveld RH, Kanani F, Lebel RR, Millan F, Oegema R, Oostra A, Parker MJ, Rhodes L, Saenz M, Seaver LH, Si Y, Vanlander A, Vergult S, Callewaert B. Expanding the molecular spectrum and the neurological phenotype related to CAMTA1 variants. Clin Genet. 2020 Nov 1. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33131045
  • Cyrus SS, Cohen ASA, Agbahovbe R, Avela K, Yeung KS, Chung BHY, Luk HM, Tkachenko N, Choufani S, Weksberg R, Lopez-Rangel E, Brown K, Saenz MS, Svihovec S, McCandless SE, Bird LM, Garcia AG, Gambello MJ, McWalter K, Schnur RE, An J, Jones SJM, Bhalla SK, Pinz H, Braddock SR, Gibson WT. Rare SUZ12 variants commonly cause an overgrowth phenotype. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2019 Dec;181(4):532-547. PubMed PMID: 31736240
  • Nau S, McCourt EA, Maloney JA, Van Hove JL, Saenz M, Jung JL. COL4A1 mutations in two infants with congenital cataracts and porencephaly: an ophthalmologic perspective. J AAPOS. 2019 Aug;23(4):246-248. PubMed PMID: 31128271
  • Wolking S, May P, Mei D, Møller RS, Balestrini S, Helbig KL, Altuzarra CD, Chatron N, Kaiwar C, Stöhr K, Widdess-Walsh P, Mendelsohn BA, Numis A, Cilio MR, Van Paesschen W, Svendsen LL, Oates S, Hughes E, Goyal S, Brown K, Sifuentes Saenz M, Dorn T, Muhle H, Pagnamenta AT, Vavoulis DV, Knight SJL, Taylor JC, Canevini MP, Darra F, Gavrilova RH, Powis Z, Tang S, Marquetand J, Armstrong M, McHale D, Klee EW, Kluger GJ, Lowenstein DH, Weckhuysen S, Pal DK, Helbig I, Guerrini R, Thomas RH, Rees MI, Lesca G, Sisodiya SM, Weber YG, Lal D, Marini C, Lerche H, Schubert J. Clinical spectrum of STX1B -related epileptic disorders. Neurology. 2019 Mar 12;92(11):e1238-e1249. PubMed PMID: 30737342
  • Fountain MD, Oleson DS, Rech ME, Segebrecht L, Hunter JV, McCarthy JM, Lupo PJ, Holtgrewe M, Moran R, Rosenfeld JA, Isidor B, Le Caignec C, Saenz MS, Pedersen RC, Morgan TM, Pfotenhauer JP, Xia F, Bi W, Kang SL, Patel A, Krantz ID, Raible SE, Smith W, Cristian I, Torti E, Juusola J, Millan F, Wentzensen IM, Person RE, Küry S, Bézieau S, Uguen K, Férec C, Munnich A, van Haelst M, Lichtenbelt KD, van Gassen K, Hagelstrom T, Chawla A, Perry DL, Taft RJ, Jones M, Masser-Frye D, Dyment D, Venkateswaran S, Li C, Escobar LF, Horn D, Spillmann RC, Peña L, Wierzba J, Strom TM, Parenti I, Kaiser FJ, Ehmke N, Schaaf CP. Pathogenic variants in USP7 cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with speech delays, altered behavior, and neurologic anomalies. Genet Med. 2019 Aug;21(8):1797-1807. PubMed PMID: 30679821
  • Zarate YA, Smith-Hicks CL, Greene C, Abbott MA, Siu VM, Calhoun ARUL, Pandya A, Li C, Sellars EA, Kaylor J, Bosanko K, Kalsner L, Basinger A, Slavotinek AM, Perry H, Saenz M, Szybowska M, Wilson LC, Kumar A, Brain C, Balasubramanian M, Dubbs H, Ortiz-Gonzalez XR, Zackai E, Stein Q, Powell CM, Schrier Vergano S, Britt A, Sun A, Smith W, Bebin EM, Picker J, Kirby A, Pinz H, Bombei H, Mahida S, Cohen JS, Fatemi A, Vernon HJ, McClellan R, Fleming LR, Knyszek B, Steinraths M, Velasco Gonzalez C, Beck AE, Golden-Grant KL, Egense A, Parikh A, Raimondi C, Angle B, Allen W, Schott S, Algrabli A, Robin NH, Ray JW, Everman DB, Gambello MJ, Chung WK. Natural history and genotype-phenotype correlations in 72 individuals with SATB2-associated syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2018 Apr;176(4):925-935. PubMed PMID: 29436146
  • Chong JX, Yu JH, Lorentzen P, Park KM, Jamal SM, Tabor HK, Rauch A, Saenz MS, Boltshauser E, Patterson KE, Nickerson DA, Bamshad MJ. Gene discovery for Mendelian conditions via social networking: de novo variants in KDM1A cause developmental delay and distinctive facial features. Genet Med. 2015 Dec 10. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26656649
  • Hao YH, Fountain MD Jr, Fon Tacer K, Xia F, Bi W, Kang SH, Patel A, Rosenfeld JA, Le Caignec C, Isidor B, Krantz ID, Noon SE, Pfotenhauer JP, Morgan TM, Moran R, Pedersen RC, Saenz MS, Schaaf CP, Potts PR. USP7 Acts as a Molecular Rheostat to Promote WASH-Dependent Endosomal Protein Recycling and Is Mutated in a Human Neurodevelopmental Disorder. Mol Cell. 2015 Sep 17;59(6):956-69. PubMed PMID: 26365382
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Professional Memberships

  • Society for Inherited Metabolic Diseases, Member
  • American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Member
  • American Academy of Family Physicians, Member

Practice Locations

Children's Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
13123 East 16th Ave
Aurora, CO 80045
720-777-1234

Hospital Affiliation
  • Children's Hospital Colorado

Specialty Information

Specialties
  • Clinical Genetics and Genomics (MD), Board Certification (2009)
  • Clinical Biochemical Genetics, Board Certification (2011, 2011)
Conditions & Treatments
  • Genetic Conditions and Testing

General Information

Medical Schools:
  • MD, University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center (2005)
Undergraduate Schools:
  • BS, Colorado State University - Pueblo (CO) (2000)
Internships:
  • University of Arizona Program (2006)
Fellowships:
  • University of Colorado (University Hospital) Program, Medical Genetics and Genomics (2009)
  • University of Colorado (University Hospital) Program (2010)
Languages: English
Department: Pediatrics-Clinical Genetics and Metabolism
Contact Us
CU Anschutz
Fitzsimons Building

13001 East 17th Place
Campus Box C290
Aurora, CO 80045

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