NIMH Center for Collaborative Genetic Studies

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This proposal is driven by the need to find genes that contribute to the etiology of mental disorders; a goal more readily attained if clinical data and biological materials (DNA and cell lines) are openly shared among investigators. During the past four years, the NIMH Center for Genetic Studies (NCGS), established over 13,000 lymphoblast cell lines (LCLs) from blood samples and processed clinical and genotype data submitted by PIs of the NIMH Human Genetics Initiative. The NCGS distributed over 20,000 DNA aliquots and made more than 82 distributions of family, clinical and genotype data to a larger group of investigators. The establishment of these resources has played a critical role in enhancing and invigorating research on the genetics of mental disorders. Drs. Tischfield and Rice propose to continue their NCGS efforts with this application to become the Cooperative Agreement Award-funded (U24) "Center for Collaborative Genetic Studies on Mental Disorders" (the "Center"), submitted in response to RFA MH-03-003. They will continue to produce LCLs as a renewable source of DNA and will maintain an improved and easily accessible, web-based bioinformatics repository of clinical and genotype data that will drive future research. They also propose analyses of shared, public data sets that will add to their predictive value for gene discovery. The Center will provide consultation on project design (e.g., power studies), detailed genomics of candidate regions, blood (or other biologicals) collection, data analysis, and best organization and use of shared resources. The overriding aim of the Center will be to serve the scientific needs of the NIMH PIs, while respecting subject confidentiality, informed consent issues, and PI prerogatives. By encouraging and facilitating the collection and sharing of biologicals as well as clinical and genotype data from subjects or families with mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or autism, and its own analyses of these data, the Center will greatly accelerate progress toward understanding the inherited components in the etiology of these diseases.