Chromosome changes and mental health: mapping risk and care
Road Map to Precision Psychiatry: Comprehensive Investigation of Chromosomal Anomalies (PsychMap)
This project will find how certain chromosome changes relate to mental health risk and inform care for people with psychiatric conditions or who carry these changes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Region Hovedstaden NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hilleroed, Denmark) |
| Project ID | NIH-11423660 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project will analyze genetic data and linked health records from a large Danish group including about 90,000 people with psychiatric diagnoses and roughly 50,000 people from the general population to estimate how common specific copy number variants (CNVs) and sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) are across ages. Researchers will model age-dependent risk and penetrance to see how likely these chromosomal changes are to lead to psychiatric illness and will estimate their contribution to the overall burden of disease. The team will compare people identified through clinical care with carriers who were not previously recognized by the healthcare system to understand differences in presentation and needs. Findings will be translated into practical recommendations about who might benefit from genetic testing and how healthcare services could be planned around these risks.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with psychiatric diagnoses (including attention and other complex conditions), those with a family history of chromosomal variants, or anyone known to carry CNVs or sex chromosome aneuploidies would be the main candidates for relevance.
Not a fit: People without relevant chromosomal variants or without psychiatric conditions, and those seeking immediate new treatments, are unlikely to directly benefit from this research in the short term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help identify people whose psychiatric risk is driven by chromosomal changes and guide decisions about genetic testing and tailored healthcare planning.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have linked some recurrent CNVs and SCAs to psychiatric risk but were often based on clinically ascertained samples, while this project aims to provide larger, population-based and age-specific estimates and clinical guidance.
Where this research is happening
Hilleroed, Denmark
- Region Hovedstaden — Hilleroed, Denmark (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Werge, Thomas Mears — Region Hovedstaden
- Study coordinator: Werge, Thomas Mears
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.