Genetic study of depression in people of East Asian descent - Prof Kuchenbaecker Lab

UGI’s Professor Karoline Kuchenbaecker and her team have led the largest genetic study of depression in people of East Asian descent. They identified new gene variants for depression, some of which link to neuron development. The student also found that gene variants previously identified in studies of “White” people do not always affect depression risk in other ancestry groups. Prof Kuchenbaecker says “This may be because depression is a very heterogeneous disease. There may be some differences between the group of patients we see in China compared to those in the US, for example.”

In the past genome-wide association studies have mostly focussed on “White” participants. Prof Kuchenbaecker’s group is trying to change that and says “It is absolutely crucial that we not only include minority ethnic groups from the UK and the US but also extend this work to other global populations. Otherwise our picture of the disease will remain very incomplete.”

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2784695