Understanding genetic and environmental pathways to major depression in Nordic health records
Official title: Risk Pathways to Major Depression: Integrating Genetic-Epidemiological, Developmental, and Molecular Genetic Strategies in Danish and Swedish National Registers
Funded at Virginia Commonwealth University · NIH-11517263 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A large study will look at how genes and life experiences combine over time to influence major depression, using Danish and Swedish population data.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Virginia Commonwealth University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Richmond, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2025 |
| Project end | February 28, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $164,159 |
| NIH project number | 3R01MH139865-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11517263 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are individuals identified in Danish and Swedish health registers with data linking genetic risk, environmental factors, and clinical depression features.
✕Less likely to help
People not represented in the Nordic registers or without data on genetics or environmental factors may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
Researchers will harmonize genetic, environmental, and clinical data from Danish and Swedish national registers to map how risk factors for major depression emerge and interact from birth onward. They will develop and apply Family Genetic Risk Scores to describe how inherited risk contributes to different clinical features of MD, such as age at onset and recurrence. The project will also create and validate measures of environmental stressors from register data, capturing chronic adversity and acute life events. The goal is to clarify causal pathways and inform prevention and early intervention strategies for people at risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could improve early identification of individuals at high risk for major depression and guide personalized prevention and treatment approaches.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work using large population registers has yielded insights into genetic and environmental contributions to depression, supporting the feasibility of this approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kendler, Kenneth Seedman — Virginia Commonwealth University
- Study coordinator: Kendler, Kenneth Seedman
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
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A large genetics study is exploring what makes extreme forms of major depression unique, by studying many thousands of people and their DNA.
-
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Global Deep Learning effort to predict depression treatment response
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Understanding immune dysfunction and social stress in veterans with depression
A study in U.S. veterans with major depressive disorder looks at how stress-related immune changes may be linked to depression and heart health.
-
Risk pathways to major depression using big Danish and Swedish data
A large study using health and genetic data from Denmark and Sweden will help understand what genetic and environmental factors contribute to major depression across how people grow up.
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Detailed brain mapping for bipolar disorder and major depression
Researchers are using thousands of MRI scans to map fine-grained brain structure differences in people with bipolar disorder and major depression compared with people without these conditions.
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.