The Bearden lab’s research aims to understand genetic, neurobiological, and cognitive risk factors for developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. We are examining these questions through two complementary lines of research: 1) The investigation of early biomarkers associated with the development of serious mental illness in youth and 2) The study of neurobehavioral manifestations of syndromes with an identified genetic origin.

One of these studies focuses on 22q11.2 copy number variation (i.e., deletions and duplications at Chromosome 22q11.2). 22q Deletion Syndrome is a genetic disorder that results in a disruption of early neuronal migration and confers a particularly high risk for psychosis. Dr. Bearden’s research group has an ongoing, NIMH-funded longitudinal study of risk factors for psychiatric disorders in youth with this syndrome. However, far less is known about 22q Duplication Syndrome, and our study is helping to understand this syndrome better. This project involves comprehensive phenotyping (i.e., dimensional measures of psychopathology, neurocognition, and structural and functional neuroanatomy), which will be examined in relation to genetic variation at the 22q11.2 locus and genome-wide. We are also now recruiting for a multisite study of both 22q11.2 variants and 16p11.2 deletions and duplications as part of the Genes to Mental Health (G2MH) consortium.

 Our lab is also investigating risk factors for psychosis in youth with subthreshold clinical symptoms indicating high risk for developing a psychotic disorder in the Center for Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS). The CAPPS program, directed by Dr. Bearden, is part of the Psychosis-Risk Outcomes Network in the new Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Schizophrenia (AMP® -SCZ).

Another active research project, conducted in collaboration with Drs. Nelson Freimer and Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo at the Universidad de Antioquia involve the genetics of serious mental illness in the Colombian Paisa population.