Understanding PTSD and depression from donated postmortem brain tissue with molecular analyses
Official title: 2/3 Understanding PTSD through Postmortem Targeted Brain Multi-omics
Funded at Lieber Institute, INC. · NIH-11330636 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at molecular differences in brains donated by people who had PTSD, major depression, or no psychiatric disorder to find biological clues about why some people develop chronic PTSD.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Lieber Institute, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | July 25, 2018 |
| Project end | February 28, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $797,817 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH117291-07 |
| Project ID | NIH-11330636 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with a history of PTSD or major depression, and individuals without psychiatric illness, who or whose families are willing to consider brain donation after death.
✕Less likely to help
People seeking immediate clinical treatment or living patients expecting direct therapy benefits should not expect direct or short-term personal benefit from this postmortem research.
What this research studies
Researchers will analyze brain tissue donated after death from people with PTSD, major depressive disorder (MDD), and matched controls. They will focus on brain areas tied to fear and mood regulation—like the amygdala, hippocampus, and dorsal raphe—and use multiple molecular methods (genotyping, DNA methylation, RNA analyses and other 'multi-omics') to profile changes. The work is a collaboration across three sites and will add about 300 new donated brains to build on prior data. Because the research uses postmortem tissue, it does not enroll living patients but may guide future diagnostic tests and treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal biological markers and pathways that help guide new diagnostics or targeted treatments for PTSD and related depression.
How similar studies have gone: Previous postmortem molecular studies have found promising leads, but comprehensive multi-omic comparisons across PTSD and MDD remain relatively new and are still generating foundational data.
Where this research is happening
-
Lieber Institute, INC.
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kleinman, Joel Edward — Lieber Institute, INC.
- Study coordinator: Kleinman, Joel Edward
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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.