ProNET: Understanding early risk for psychosis
Official title: ProNET: Psychosis-Risk Outcomes Network
Funded at Yale University · NIH-11493636 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project follows people showing early signs of psychosis risk to collect brain scans, EEG, blood tests, speech samples, and phone data that could help predict who develops psychosis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project start | September 8, 2020 |
| Project end | May 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $295,342 |
| NIH project number | 3U01MH124639-05SH |
| Project ID | NIH-11493636 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people identified as clinical high risk for psychosis (for example, showing attenuated psychotic symptoms) who can attend clinic visits and agree to scans, EEG, blood draws, cognitive testing, and phone-based monitoring.
✕Less likely to help
People without early psychosis symptoms or those unwilling or unable to complete repeated visits, scans, or sample collection are unlikely to directly benefit from participation.
What this research studies
You would join a large network that follows people judged to be at clinical high risk for psychosis across 26 international sites. Participants complete detailed testing including MRI brain scans, EEG, blood and other body-fluid samples, genetic tests, cognitive and symptom measures, speech recordings, and passive smartphone sensing. These measures are collected repeatedly over a 24-month period with eight clinical visits and biomarker measurements at multiple timepoints, while a group of healthy volunteers provide baseline comparison data. The team also explores real-time phone surveys and novel EEG signals to link daily symptoms and brain changes to longer-term outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help find markers that identify who is most likely to develop psychosis and enable earlier, more personalized preventive care.
How similar studies have gone: Smaller prior CHR studies have identified some promising biomarker signals but findings have been mixed, so this large, multi-site approach is relatively novel and aims to improve reliability.
Where this research is happening
-
Yale University
New Haven, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Woods, Scott W — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Woods, Scott W
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Psychosis in diverse settings across the world
This project studies how psychotic disorders show up and respond to treatment in adults with diverse backgrounds, including populations in Africa, the Caribbean, and other Global South settings.
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Psychosis in Diverse Settings: Understanding Symptoms and Treatment Across Global South
A human-facing study will look at how psychotic disorders present and respond to treatment in adults from Africa, the Caribbean, and other Global South settings, using genetic and clinical data.
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A new online brain-scan-style tool to spot early psychosis risk
A new online-based set of tasks and a computer model aims to identify people at high risk for developing psychosis earlier and more accurately.
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Genetic clues for early-onset psychosis in Latino youth
This project looks at the genes of young people with early-onset psychosis and compares them with similar youths without psychosis to find genetic factors that contribute to the illness.
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Biomarkers to tailor rehab for Veterans with schizophrenia
A clinician-scientist is developing a brain-based biomarker to guide personalized rehabilitation for Veterans with schizophrenia.
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Computational analysis of facial expression in early psychosis
Aims to develop computer-based measures of facial expression in people at risk for or with schizophrenia to help track symptoms and guide future trials.
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.