Shared brain and genetic patterns across psychiatric conditions
Official title: Shared neural basis and genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders
Funded at University of Pennsylvania · NIH-11261776 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks for common brain and gene patterns in people with autism, ADHD, and related psychiatric conditions to help guide diagnosis and treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | January 21, 2025 |
| Project end | November 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $628,811 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH136055-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261776 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with autism, ADHD, or related psychiatric diagnoses who have contributed brain imaging and genetic data to research databases.
✕Less likely to help
People without available brain imaging or genetic data, or whose conditions are unrelated to the psychiatric disorders studied, may not see direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
Researchers will re-analyze large collections of existing brain scans and genetic data from people with autism, ADHD, and other psychiatric diagnoses. They will combine multiple imaging types (for example brain structure and connectivity) and include body imaging where available, while also examining rare genetic variants and linking findings to gene activity. The team will integrate data from human connectome resources and functional genomics to find biological pathways shared across disorders. Because the work uses already-collected human data, the effort focuses on advanced computational analyses rather than recruiting new participants.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify objective brain and genetic markers that improve diagnosis, predict risk, or help target new treatments for psychiatric conditions.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have found links between genes and single imaging measures, but combining multi-modal and multi-organ imaging with rare-variant and functional genomic analysis is relatively new and less tested.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhao, Bingxin — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Zhao, Bingxin
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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.