BD2, an organization funding large-scale bipolar research, unveiled a new research collaboration on March 30, 2023, to further understanding of the genetic basis of bipolar disorder. The collaboration is headed by The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and includes the New York Genome Center and the UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, led by UCLA Depression Grand Challenge Director Nelson Freimer, MD.
The aim of the collaboration is the creation of to the BD² Genetics Platform. Researchers will perform genetic sequencing on more than 30,000 samples from people with bipolar disorder from Africa, Central America, South America and Asia — one of the largest and most diverse populations of people with bipolar disorder ever sequenced by researchers.
The goal of the large-scale research effort is to further understanding of the genetic basis of bipolar disorder; specifically, researchers aim to uncover which genes may contribute to inheritance of the condition. Improving understanding of bipolar disorder’s heritability could improve treatment outcomes for individuals with bipolar disorder worldwide. The large and diverse sample size will also fill a gap in genetic data available to researchers, potentially bolstering future research studies.
Freimer joins Benjamin Neale of The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Tarjinder Singh of the New York Genome Center as one of the team leads for this project. He will contribute his research expertise on the genetic basis serious mental illnesses (e.g., major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder) and their trajectories.
To learn more about the research effort, visit the BD² website.
