UNC to Lead Next Phase of Global Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: $15.6 Million NIH Award Over Five Years
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in Orange County, North Carolina, announced on November 4 that it has received a five-year, $15.6 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead the fifth phase of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), the world's largest collaboration in psychiatric genetics. The award is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The consortium brings together 1,772 researchers across 66 countries and has produced more than 800 publications, mapping the genetic architecture behind conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. Its method is to pool genome data from cohorts around the world under common standards, assembling samples large enough to detect the small genetic signals associated with these illnesses.
The fifth phase, titled 'Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Mechanisms and Translation,' will expand the consortium's genetic datasets from roughly 2 million people to nearly 6 million. The larger samples are expected to reveal additional, finer-grained genetic associations and support work on the biological mechanisms behind them — with the stated goal of translating genetic findings into diagnostics and treatments.
The project is led by UNC's Patrick F. Sullivan. Co-leaders at UNC include Cynthia Bulik, James Crowley and Jerry Guintivano, while consortium-wide co-leads include Arpana Agrawal, Ole Andreassen and Cathryn Lewis, among others at institutions in multiple countries.
UNC said the award reinforces its leadership role in psychiatric genomics. Mental illnesses affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, yet their biology has remained difficult to pin down; researchers in the field say sustained international collaboration and ever-larger datasets are the practical route from genetic discovery toward clinical application.
(Source: UNC Health)
Source: UNC Health
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校地标「老井」（Old Well）。图片来自 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The Old Well, landmark of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Image via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
