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VCU and partners receive $5.7 million to continue transformative study of clinical depression

VCU and partners receive $5.7 million to continue transformative study of clinical depression

Virginia Commonwealth University is part of an international research team that has received a Wellcome Trust grant totaling more than $5.7 million to uncover the underlying biological processes that cause major depressive disorder. The study, to be conducted by researchers from VCU, the University of Oxford and throughout China, is an extension of a study from the same team that uncovered the first identified risk genes for clinical depression last year.

The design of the five-year study will replicate and extend ...

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Understanding The Etiology of Psychiatric Illnesses

Understanding The Etiology of Psychiatric Illnesses

By Elizabeth Long

Kenneth Kendler, M.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Human and Molecular Genetics as well as one of the founders of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. In collaboration with Lindon Eaves, Ph.D., Dr. Kendler created VIPBG in 1996 as an effort to bring together expert psychiatrists, statisticians, and molecular geneticists under one roof, where he currently serves as Director.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kendler has published over 850 articles, making ...

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VCU psychiatry professor honored with prestigious award from the National Academy of Medicine

VCU psychiatry professor honored with prestigious award from the National Academy of Medicine

The National Academy of Medicine today awarded Virginia Commonwealth University psychiatry professor Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., with the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health in recognition of his research on the role of genes and environment in the development of psychiatric and substance use disorders.

The award was presented to the director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at the NAM’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Kendler shares the recognition with Kay Jamison, Ph.D., professor ...

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VCU researchers and international partners are first to identify risk genes for clinical depression

VCU researchers and international partners are first to identify risk genes for clinical depression

For the first time in scientific history, researchers have identified specific genetic clues to the underlying etiology of clinical depression. The findings are the result of an international collaboration among researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Oxford and throughout China to localize risk genes for major depressive disorder.

While prior studies have failed to identify replicated evidence for molecular genetic markers that predispose to risk for the disease, the international research team, in which VCU’s Virginia Institute for Psychiatric ...

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VCU researchers discover that schizophrenia risk is diminished by high IQ

VCU researchers discover that schizophrenia risk is diminished by high IQ

High intelligence could protect against the development of schizophrenia in people who have a genetic predisposition for the disease, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden. The findings contradict conventional wisdom that schizophrenia and brilliance are linked.

The research provides insight into how IQ and schizophrenia interact and suggest that intelligence is an important moderator in the development of the mental disorder.

“If you’re really smart, your genes for schizophrenia don’t have ...

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VCU receives $1.6 million grant to study pathways that lead to substance use disorders

VCU receives $1.6 million grant to study pathways that lead to substance use disorders

In one of the first projects to be funded under a partnership between the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Research Council of Norway, two Virginia Commonwealth University professors from the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG) will work with researchers at the University of Oslo to study the genetic and environmental factors in normal and abnormal personality that increase the risk of developing substance use disorders. The four-year study will also link new and existing data ...

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Criminal behavior: Older siblings strongly sway younger siblings close in age

Criminal behavior: Older siblings strongly sway younger siblings close in age

If a sibling commits a violent criminal act, the risk that a younger sibling may follow in their footsteps is more likely than the transmission of that behavior to an older sibling, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

The findings provide insight into the social transmission of violent behaviors and suggest that environmental factors within families can be important when it comes to delinquent behavior. Down the road, the results ...

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New patterns found in the genetic relationship of five major psychiatric disorders

New patterns found in the genetic relationship of five major psychiatric disorders

An international consortium has shown for the first time evidence of substantial overlap of genetic risk factors shared between bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia and less overlap between those conditions and autism and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published this week in Nature Genetics’ Advance Online publication.

The root cause of psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder schizophrenia, autism and ADHD is not fully understood. For more than 125 years, clinicians have based ...

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