- Email: [email protected]
IMPACT OF GENOMICS AND CONNECTOMICS APPROACHES ON SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH
Schizophrenia Research 153, Supplement 1 (2014) S1–S384
Abstracts of the 4th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference Florence, Italy, 5–9 April 2014
PLENARY & SYMPOSIA SESSIONS, ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS Special Session ITALIAN RESEARCH DAY Saturday, 5 April 2014
10:00 AM – 5:15 PM
This satellite meeting builds on a very successful similar day at the last SIRS meeting. It provides the opportunity to all attendees, and to all those interested in mental illness, to hear the best of Italian Research into Schizophrenia, both from those Italian research scientists now working in other countries and those carrying out research in major Italian Centres. We will hear of how the incidence of schizophrenia appears surprisingly low in different centres in Italy, of the relative importance in Italy and elsewhere of risk factors for schizophrenia such as child abuse, immigration and drug abuse (including novel internet drugs). We will also hear how imaging can predict outcome of psychosis and how it reflects genetic predisposition. The afternoon will include sessions on the ways in which relatives are involved in care of people with psychosis in Italy. The day will close with a panel of very distinguished clinicians from across the globe discussing the merits and demerits of the care offered to people with schizophrenia in their respective countries. The day will be in English and is open and free to all attendees at the SIRS meeting and indeed the general public (Italian and non-Italian alike). Those with experience of psychosis and their relatives are very welcome.
THE ROAD FROM DAMASCUS: A SCIENTIFIC JOURNEY Huda Akil University of Michigan, United States of America In this talk, Dr. Akil will share her transition from Syria to the USA to become a scientist, witnessing the discovery of Endorphins, her current interests in neuroscience, and lessons she learned along the way about how to keep her love of science alive.
Plenary Session IMPACT OF GENOMICS AND CONNECTOMICS APPROACHES ON SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH Chairpersons: Lynn DeLisi and René Kahn Sunday, 6 April 2014 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM Wikepedia defines “Omics” as an informal suffix that implies “the collective characterization and quantification of pools of biological molecules that translate into the structure, function, and dynamics of an organism or organisms.” Thus, “genomics” describes all that is known about the multiple aspects of the genetic architecture of an organism or its disordersand 0920-9964/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
“connectomics” describes the complex cerebral architecture that is uniquely human and can develop in deviant ways in schizophrenia. In this session we thus aim to review the most up-to-date knowledge in the fields of both genomics and connectomics as they relate to improving our understanding about schizophrenia. Research findings are accumulating so rapidly now that even the latest published literature cannot keep up with the pace of progress in these fields. In the genomics session, Dr. Patrick Sullivan will cover the latest GenomeWide Association Study (GWAS) findings of common alleles with increased risk for schizophrenia from the large international collaborative effort, The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). He will be followed by Dr. Jonathan Sebat who will discuss how rare genetic variants, such as Copy Number Variants (CNV’s) can play a role in risk for schizophrenia. This will be followed by a discussion of environmental-gene interaction as led by Dr. Tiina Paunio. All panelists will then discuss the field of Next-Generation Sequencing and how it will be effective in finding genes for schizophrenia. We will end this session with a discussion of controversial ethical issues that the field of psychiatric genetics is now faced with, including commercial direct-to-consumer genome testing availability.This will be led by Dr. Francis McMahon, president of The International Society of Psychiatric Genetics. General audience participation will be encouraged. The second half of this plenary will be devoted to “Connectomics” in the human brain and how connectivity is influenced by genetics. It will include Drs. Ed Bullmore, Jeff Lichtman and Deanna Barch. All of these researchers have developed innovative methods for viewing how the brain communicates and functions through its connectivity and how genes influence the variation that exists in human brain connections. Some of the latter variation may be relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as schizophrenia. They will then lead a panel discussion session with audience participation to conclude this session.
Symposium DEVELOPMENTAL STRESS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POSSIBLE MECHANISMS Chairpersons: Preben Bo Mortensen and James Koenig Discussant: James Koenig Sunday, 6 April 2014 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Overall Abstract: The developing and maturing brain is highly sensitive to the detrimental effects induced by environmental adversities. Early-life exposure to environmental stressors such as prenatal maternal stress or childhood psychological trauma have been identified as possible risk factors of schizophrenia and related disorders. Despite epidemiological evidence for such associations, several controversial issues still exist in the field that warrant close examination, including the role of developmental timing and the specificity of developmental stressors. Moreover, the extent to which early-life exposure to stress interacts with other genetic or environmental
Abstracts of the 4th Biennial Schizophrenia International Research Conference Florence, Italy, 5–9 April 2014
PLENARY & SYMPOSIA SESSIONS, ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS Special Session ITALIAN RESEARCH DAY Saturday, 5 April 2014
10:00 AM – 5:15 PM
This satellite meeting builds on a very successful similar day at the last SIRS meeting. It provides the opportunity to all attendees, and to all those interested in mental illness, to hear the best of Italian Research into Schizophrenia, both from those Italian research scientists now working in other countries and those carrying out research in major Italian Centres. We will hear of how the incidence of schizophrenia appears surprisingly low in different centres in Italy, of the relative importance in Italy and elsewhere of risk factors for schizophrenia such as child abuse, immigration and drug abuse (including novel internet drugs). We will also hear how imaging can predict outcome of psychosis and how it reflects genetic predisposition. The afternoon will include sessions on the ways in which relatives are involved in care of people with psychosis in Italy. The day will close with a panel of very distinguished clinicians from across the globe discussing the merits and demerits of the care offered to people with schizophrenia in their respective countries. The day will be in English and is open and free to all attendees at the SIRS meeting and indeed the general public (Italian and non-Italian alike). Those with experience of psychosis and their relatives are very welcome.
THE ROAD FROM DAMASCUS: A SCIENTIFIC JOURNEY Huda Akil University of Michigan, United States of America In this talk, Dr. Akil will share her transition from Syria to the USA to become a scientist, witnessing the discovery of Endorphins, her current interests in neuroscience, and lessons she learned along the way about how to keep her love of science alive.
Plenary Session IMPACT OF GENOMICS AND CONNECTOMICS APPROACHES ON SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH Chairpersons: Lynn DeLisi and René Kahn Sunday, 6 April 2014 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM Wikepedia defines “Omics” as an informal suffix that implies “the collective characterization and quantification of pools of biological molecules that translate into the structure, function, and dynamics of an organism or organisms.” Thus, “genomics” describes all that is known about the multiple aspects of the genetic architecture of an organism or its disordersand 0920-9964/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
“connectomics” describes the complex cerebral architecture that is uniquely human and can develop in deviant ways in schizophrenia. In this session we thus aim to review the most up-to-date knowledge in the fields of both genomics and connectomics as they relate to improving our understanding about schizophrenia. Research findings are accumulating so rapidly now that even the latest published literature cannot keep up with the pace of progress in these fields. In the genomics session, Dr. Patrick Sullivan will cover the latest GenomeWide Association Study (GWAS) findings of common alleles with increased risk for schizophrenia from the large international collaborative effort, The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). He will be followed by Dr. Jonathan Sebat who will discuss how rare genetic variants, such as Copy Number Variants (CNV’s) can play a role in risk for schizophrenia. This will be followed by a discussion of environmental-gene interaction as led by Dr. Tiina Paunio. All panelists will then discuss the field of Next-Generation Sequencing and how it will be effective in finding genes for schizophrenia. We will end this session with a discussion of controversial ethical issues that the field of psychiatric genetics is now faced with, including commercial direct-to-consumer genome testing availability.This will be led by Dr. Francis McMahon, president of The International Society of Psychiatric Genetics. General audience participation will be encouraged. The second half of this plenary will be devoted to “Connectomics” in the human brain and how connectivity is influenced by genetics. It will include Drs. Ed Bullmore, Jeff Lichtman and Deanna Barch. All of these researchers have developed innovative methods for viewing how the brain communicates and functions through its connectivity and how genes influence the variation that exists in human brain connections. Some of the latter variation may be relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as schizophrenia. They will then lead a panel discussion session with audience participation to conclude this session.
Symposium DEVELOPMENTAL STRESS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POSSIBLE MECHANISMS Chairpersons: Preben Bo Mortensen and James Koenig Discussant: James Koenig Sunday, 6 April 2014 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Overall Abstract: The developing and maturing brain is highly sensitive to the detrimental effects induced by environmental adversities. Early-life exposure to environmental stressors such as prenatal maternal stress or childhood psychological trauma have been identified as possible risk factors of schizophrenia and related disorders. Despite epidemiological evidence for such associations, several controversial issues still exist in the field that warrant close examination, including the role of developmental timing and the specificity of developmental stressors. Moreover, the extent to which early-life exposure to stress interacts with other genetic or environmental