Mental Health Neuroscience Department Special Seminar

12.30 – 13.30 PM The PsychENCODE project

Professor James Knowles, Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology, SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, New York, NY

Abstract:

The PsychENCODE Consortium was established by the National Institute of Mental Health in 2015 with the objective of characterising non‐coding functional genomic elements in human brain and understanding their role in the development of psychiatric disorders. Professor Knowles was one of the founding members of PsychENCODE Consortium and will talk about their recent publications in Science [Science. 2018 Dec 14; 362(6420): eaat7615. doi: 10.1126/science.aat7615 and Science. 2018 Dec 14; 362(6420): eaat8464. doi: 10.1126/science.aat8464]

13.30 – 14.00 PM Collection of Schizophrenia case-control cohort from Pakistan for genetic studies

Professor Muhammad Ayub, Professor and Chair Division of Developmental Disabilities, Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Abstract:

Professor Ayub will discuss the NIMH funded The GEN-SCRIP Study (GENetics of SChizophRenia in Pakistan). He will describe the experience and challenges of starting this multi-centre study. He will report on progress including clinical characteristics of the cases and results of screening for controls.