id	PI Name	Grant/Project Name	NIH or non-NIH	expiry	link	Public Health Relevance Statement/Non-Scientific Summary
1	Amstadter	Starting college during COVID: Impact on Psychiatric, Substance Use, and Academic Outcomes	Non (PERq)	-0001-11-30		The COVID-19 pandemic has affected psychiatric and substance use outcomes broadly. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the pandemic has affected such outcomes among students who enrolled in college during the pandemic.
2	Amstadter (site PI); Michopoulos (Emory) is PI	Impacts of COVID-19 and racial discrimination on mental, physical, and psychophysiological health in Black pregnant and postpartum persons	NIH	-0001-11-30		One group of individuals who is at disproportionately higher risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic is pregnant and postpartum Black persons. Importantly, increased risk for adverse maternal health outcomes in Black persons may also be due to experiences of racial discrimination. The current study aims to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial discrimination on mental health, pregnancy-associated morbidity and maternal mortality, and fear psychophysiology during pregnancy and up to three months postpartum in Black persons.
3	Bacanu	Core 3: Bioinformatics and Analysis Core (5P50AA022537-07)	NIH	-0001-11-30		The BioInformatics and Analysis (BIA) core is responsible in helping human and animal project researchers to analyze their data and to synergistically integrate the results from all this projects.
4	Bacanu	Assessing miRNA expression in the Corticolimbic System of Major Depressive Disorder (M2102190)	NIH	-0001-11-30		We are assessing the differences in gene expression between miRNA (and their target genes) in postmortem brains of subjects with and without a diagnosis of major depressive disorder.
5	Bacanu (site PI); Hettema (Texas A&M) is PI	Genome-wide association studies of anxiety spectrum phenotypes: Furthering the PGC Anxiety Disorders Working Group (M20000751)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Anxiety disorders are quite common, chronic, and disabling. Both genetic factors and exposure to environmental stress contribute to their development. The identification of the genes that play a role in their development can provide new clues to their causes and new directions for prevention and treatment research.
6	Bountress	Alcohol Use Phenotypes and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Investigating Shared Genetic, Behavioral, and Psychophysiological Risk Factors (5K01AA028058-03)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Alcohol consumption (alcohol quantity x frequency/AQF), Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often co-occur, and there is emerging evidence that shared genetic risk may partially account for the high rates of this co-occurrence. This project seeks to clarify the shared molecular genetic underpinnings of the PTSD-AQF/AUD co-occurrence, while testing two key laboratory-based phenotypes (i.e., distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity) as potential predictors, and socioeconomic status and social support as moderators of genetic effects. This K01 award will provide the candidate with the necessary training to become an independent, federally-funded investigator in the intersection of traumatic stress-related outcomes, laboratory-based paradigms, and psychiatric and statistical genetics.
7	Brown	Depression, Stress, and Down Syndrome. A Multimethod Approach to Assessment (5K08HD092610-04)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This K08 award will provide the candidate with the training necessary to pursue a multimodal program of research, including the development of assessment tools for depression and stressful life events and the incorporation of clinical and biomarker data to better identify depression in people with Down syndrome (Ds). Given that depressive symptoms are modifiable via psychosocial or pharmacologic intervention, the development of tools to facilitate the recognition of depression in people with Ds could lead to advances in research aimed at reducing the risk (or progression) of depression in this highly vulnerable population.
8	Brown	Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of People with Down Syndrome (K08HD092610-03S1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This supplemental funding project, which is directly related to Down syndrome, will expand the scope of our research by: (1) conducting a longitudinal mental health surveillance study of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver stress and the mental health of their children with Down syndrome; (2) ascertaining a sample of 50 adolescents and young adults with DS reporting the highest and lowest COVID-related stress exposure to conduct a detailed psychiatric profile and buccal cell collection, and (3) assessing DNA methylation, telomere length, and micronuclei frequency in this ascertained sample to identify potential biomarkers associated with COVID-related stress. These studies could aid understanding stress-related sequalae of COVD-19 on psychiatric functioning and acquired genetic/chromosomal instability in people with Down syndrome, and lay the groundwork for efforts to prevent or ameliorate these effects.
9	Edwards	The Etiology of Risk: Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders and Suicidal Behavior (5R01AA027522-03)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This project seeks to clarify the mechanisms by which alcohol and substance use disorders are related to risk of suicidal behavior. We will apply a range of novel and sophisticated methodological approaches, using data from Swedish national registries. Given close parallels between substance misuse and suicidal behavior across Sweden and the US, these findings have the potential to identify targets for prevention and intervention.
10	Edwards	Harnessing advances in the genetics of suicidality to identify and dissect psychosocial pathways to risk (1R01MH129356-01)	NIH	-0001-11-30		The specific aims of this project will leverage recent advances in the molecular genetics of suicidality to clarify the mechanisms by which aggregate genetic liability relates to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. We will use seven independent samples to explore how genetic liability exerts its effects across the life course via behavioral mediators and in the context of environmental exposures. This integrative approach will provide critical psychosocial context to biological findings.
11	Edwards	The Etiology of Suicidal and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in a Population-Based Sample	Non (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)	-0001-11-30		Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors are correlated but distinct outcomes, and how they are etiologically
12	Gillespie	Using transmitted and untransmitted gene networks to identify molecular pathways to substance use & misuse in genetically controlled twins (1R01DA052453-01A1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Multiple genetic risks cause alcohol, nicotine and cannabis substance use (SU) and substance use disorders (SUDs). However, genetic studies alone cannot explain the cascade of molecular changes between SNPs and SU and SUDs. Nor can current approaches correctly measure the causal impact of genetic differences on parental and home environments linked to SU and SUDs. Molecular studies that link GWAS results to gene expression data via eQTL findings have increased our understanding of the etiology of SU and SUDs. Yet, they fail to capture complex gene interactions that are the hallmark of complex traits including SU and SUDs, or are mostly underpowered (especially from brain tissues). Another limitation is that genetic and molecular studies neglect environmental confounding. We know that parents create and influence children
13	Gillespie	Understanding the relationship between female reproductive span and dementia risk (R21 AG074212-01)	NIH	-0001-11-30		It is projected that by the year 2030 more than 60 million people worldwide will be living with Alzheimer
14	Kendler	Social, Developmental and Epidemiology of Alcohol Use Disorders (5R01AA023534-07)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This project seeks to clarify the nature and significance of the heterogeneity of alcohol use disorder, to understand how the risk for the disorder is transmitted within couples, families, and large pedigrees, the nature and causes of alcohol-related medical complications and the impact of acculturation on risk in immigrants. To meet these goals, we will apply advanced statistical methods to a unique set of epidemiological resources available in Sweden. The findings will be relevant to the US, with potential impacts on prevention, treatment and policy.
15	Kendler	Genetic, Social, and Developmental Epidemiology of Drug Use Disorders (5R01DA030005-12)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This project seeks to clarify etiologic pathways to aggregate drug abuse and opiate abuse more specifically. To accomplish this goal, we will utilize a unique and growing set of epidemiological resources available in the country of Sweden and a range of advanced statistical modeling methods. The resulting findings will be relevant to the US and other developed countries, with potential impacts on drug abuse prevention, treatment and policy.
16	Kendler	An Integrative Approach to the Etiology of Internalizing Disorders in the Lifelines Cohort (1R01MH125902-01A1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		This project seeks to clarify the etiology of key internalizing psychiatric disorders and closely associated functional medical disorders by applying a range of methods from epidemiology, genetic epidemiology and molecular genetics to the large informative population-based cohort in the Netherlands called Lifelines. We will attempt to understand the origins of the comorbidity between these disorders and how genes and environment contribute to their development. To meet these goals, we will apply advanced statistical methods to a unique set of epidemiological and molecular genetic resources.
17	Kendler	A Genome Wide Association Study of Severe Alcohol Use Disorder (5R01AA026750-04)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Alcohol Use Disorder is a heritable, common and severe substance use disorder which carries substantial medical and social morbidity. Large sample genome wide association studies (GWAS) of other complex medical and psychiatric disorders have, with sufficient sample size, led to important insights into etiology which are being translated into new treatment and preventative measures. This project will collect a large sample of severely ill cases with Alcohol Use Disorder which, together with other parallel efforts, will identify key risk genes for this disorder which can, in turn, improve our understanding of its biological causes and open up new therapeutic opportunities.
18	Kendler	Measurement of Psychopathology in large-scale genetic studies	Non (Broad)	-0001-11-30		This project was funded so that a literature review of the clinical features of Schizophrenia that index genetic risk could be conducted.
19	Kendler (site PI); Bergen (Karolinska Institute) is PI	A comparison of environmental and genetic risks for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A Swedish national study	NIH	-0001-11-30		This study focuses on epidemiological risk factors for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder in Swedish national samples.
20	Kendler	Identifying the genetic causes of depression in a deeply phenotyped population from S. Korea	NIH	-0001-11-30		This project will collect samples from 10,000 South Korean women with recurrent major depressive disorder and 10,000 matched controls. All subjects will be genotyped and the location of genetic risk factors identified in a genome-wide association analysis. The cohort will also provide detailed information about the likely environmental causes of depression, and when combined with a similarly deeply phenotyped cohort from China, will form a uniquely powerful resource for the discovery of genes involved in recurrent major depressive disorder.
21	Lapato	Affordable Course Content Award & ACCA Sustain Grant	non-NIH	-0001-11-30		This award supports the development of open educational resources for data science methods training. The newly created materials will be used to teach reproducible research methods and serve as the primary texts in the graduate-level data science courses HGEN611 and HGE612 at VCU.
22	Lapato	Longitudinal MicroRNA Study of Recurrent Early-Onset Major Depression	non-NIH (VETAR)	-0001-11-30		The purpose of this grant is to address basic questions regarding the relationship between microRNAs (miRNAs) and the pathophysiology of major depression in adolescence. We will assess the composition and stability of miRNA expression levels in peripheral blood samples from young adults. This information will inform the design of future investigations to obtain a comprehensive map of RNA expression profiles during adolescence and provide pilot data to assess multi-omic longitudinal models of risk for depression onset that incorporate behavioral, genetic, and epigenetic variables.
23	Maes	Research Centre for Developmental Processes and Gradients in Mental Health	Non (Research Council of Norway)	-0001-11-30		PROMENTA provides interdisciplinary and ground-breaking research elucidating the causal interplay at multiple levels
24	Neale	20/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT VCU (3U01DA051037-02S1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Persons from marginalized communities are underrepresented in biomedical research, both as participants and as actual biomedical scientists. This under-representation results in reduced perspectives on culturally-sensitive assessments for neurobehavioral and neuroscience research, and also impoverishes public health research initiatives that may benefit health of racial minorities. To improve inclusion, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) site of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study seeks supplemental funding to enable an immersive human-subject biomedical research experience to Olive Calonge, who is graduating from Stony Brook University Spring 2021, and who has expressed an interest in developmental neuroscience.
25	Neale	Research Training: Psychiatric and Statistical Genetics (5T32MH020030-22)	NIH	-0001-11-30		There is a shortage of researchers who have skills in both statistical or molecular genetics and psychiatric epidemiology. Such individuals are needed to increase our understanding of the causes and trajectories of psychiatric disorders, so that better prevention and treatments can be developed. This training grant will educate three pre-doctoral and three postdoctoral trainees in psychiatric, behavioral, statistical and molecular genetics and neuroscience.
26	Neale	20/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT VCU (5U01DA051037-02)	NIH	-0001-11-30		The ABCD Study consortium uses multimodal brain imaging, cognitive and clinical assessments, bioassays, mobile monitoring, and careful assessment of substance use, environment, psychopathological symptoms, and social functioning in 11,878 9-10 year-olds to be followed over 10 years, to determine the effects of substance use on adolescent brain and cognitive development. This ABCD Research Project Site will follow and assess participants enrolled in the study. These data will be shared with the scientific community to address a comprehensive range of questions concerning youth development.
27	Neale	Extensions of Mendelian Randomization Methodology for Combined Genomic and Methylomic Analysis (5R01DA049867-02)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Substance use abuse and dependence are especially complex disorders, with innumerable genetic and environmental risk factors, highly variable patterns of onset, offset and comorbidity with psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancer. This project will develop Mendelian randomization based statistical methods and software and apply them to unique data from the Netherlands on genomic methylation. The project will improve understanding of the causes and effects of substance abuse and dependence, and how best to prevent and treat these disorders and their sequelae.
28	Neale (site PI); Klump (Michigan State) is PI	A Twin Study of Exogenous Hormone Exposure and Risk For Binge Eating	NIH	-0001-11-30		Binge eating and bulimic syndromes are significant mental health problems that disproportionately affect women. Their pronounced psychiatric and medical morbidity underscore the urgent need to understand their development. Identification of the deleterious effects of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) on binge eating could substantially reduce the risk of bulimic syndromes in vulnerable women and spearhead a much more personalized medicine approach to COC use and prescriptions.
29	Neale (site PI); Williams, Franz, & Lyons (USCD) are PIs	The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging (VETSA 4)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Alzheimer's disease is considered the most costly and burdensome disease in the U.S, and its public health impact will only grow with the increase of 65-75 year olds in the next decade. Paralleling cardiovascular disease and cancer, it is now widely recognized that a key to slowing disease progression is early identification during pre-dementia phases. With cognitive and biomarker data beginning when participants were in their 50s, the longitudinal VETSA project stands to advance progress toward early identification, which may, in turn, improve quality of life and reduce societal burden.
30	Peterson	Cross-Population Working Group on Genes and Environment in Major Depression (POP-GEM): Advancing the Understating of Etiology through Diversity (1R01MH125938-01A1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Major depression (MD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, arises from the action and interaction between genetic and environmental factors, and is often comorbid with other psychiatric and medical conditions. Although recent progress has yielded modest insight into the genetic architecture of MD, most studies have been in European ancestry populations, seriously limiting our knowledge of human genomic variation, disease etiology, and precision medicine efforts. Here, we propose cross-population genetic studies of MD to advance our understanding of the genetic architecture in all populations and ensure that genetic research is broadly applicable.
31	Peterson (site PI); Webb (RTI) is PI	Adapting machine learning methods to detect genetic loci specific to strictly defined MDD	NIH	-0001-11-30		Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is common psychiatric disorder, a leading cause of disability worldwide, and partially influenced by genetics. Rigorous clinical assessments are generally needed for studies to distinguish between genetic loci influencing mild versus debilitating manifestations of the disorder. We propose to evaluate and adapt machine learning methods to estimate risk to strictly defined MDD in large-scale biobanks samples that measure many variables but may not contain rigorous clinical assessments and use these predictions to discover additional genetic variation specifically influencing MDD.
32	Riley	Whole Genome Sequencing in Irish Multiplex Schizophrenia Families (5R01MH114593-05)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Rare sequence variation has been implicated in many human complex traits, including schizophrenia, and has been studied in unrelated cases and controls and parent:offspring trios, but remains unstudied in multiplex families. Sequencing the genomes of such families will allow comprehensive identification of variation in protein coding genes, non-coding expressed loci, regulatory sequences, and evolutionarily conserved regions, as well as detection of structural variation, and testing these alleles in a large case/control series of the same ethnic and geographic origin offers significant advantages over prior study designs, and has the potential to identify individual alleles, variant enriched genes, variant enriched non-genic sequences, and/or variant enriched genesets contributing to SCH risk in the Irish population. Such variants offer great potential for understanding the functional impact of risk alleles and improving mechanistic understanding of schizophrenia and related disorders.
33	Roberson-Nay	Quantification and Characterization of Bulk and L1CAM-Enriched Exosomal MicroRNA Cargo in Healthy Young People (1R21MH128562)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Early onset major depressive disorder (MD) is a prevalent and significant public health problem associated with negative immediate and long-term effects. Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNA) has been linked to a number of disease states including MD. We propose to examine miRNAs from extracellular vesicles (ECV) in an extant, deeply phenotyped twin sample (n=284; 15-22 years; ~65% female; R01MH101518) to address critical basic science questions about the nature of ECV miRNAs during early life and their relationship to the leading cause of psychiatric impairment in young adults.
34	Sheerin	Functional relations between alcohol use and mental/physical health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (3K01AA025692-04S1)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co-occur, and some of the genetic risk for these conditions is shared. This project aims to elucidate the shared molecular genetic risk and examine potential learning-based mechanisms common to both disorders, by linking large-scale genome-wide data with a clinical laboratory study. This K01 award will provide the candidate with the training necessary to pursue a multimodal program of research that aims to synthesize genetically informed research with laboratory studies of mechanism to inform upon the shared underpinnings of AUD and PTSD and advance work aimed at improving prevention and treatment efforts.
35	Sheerin	Overlap in genetic and learning-based mechanisms for alcohol use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (5K01AA025692-04)	NIH	-0001-11-30		Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co-occur, and some of the genetic risk for these conditions is shared. This project aims to elucidate the shared molecular genetic risk and examine potential learning-based mechanisms common to both disorders, by linking large-scale genome-wide data with a clinical laboratory study. This K01 award will provide the candidate with the training necessary to pursue a multimodal program of research that aims to synthesize genetically informed research with laboratory studies of mechanism to inform upon the shared underpinnings of AUD and PTSD and advance work aimed at improving prevention and treatment efforts.
36	York	Genetic architecture of cervical length related to progesterone treatment and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth	NIH	-0001-11-30		The objective of this project is to establish the genetic architecture associated with cervical shortening leading responsiveness.