RG Precision Genomics of Mental Health

The Research Group Precision Genomics of Mental Health investigates how genetic factors interact with environmental and psychological factors to shape mental health. Genetic variation provides a window into the biology of mental disorders and helps us understand why people differ in their risk of developing mental disorders, symptoms, and disease course. With a special focus on major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), the group combines large-scale international genomic studies with population-based research and clinical cohorts.

A central focus is uncovering the genetic architecture of mental disorders. The group coordinates and contributes to large international genome-wide association studies of MDD and BPD, particularly through the Major Depression Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the International Borderline Genomics Consortium. Beyond identifying genetic risk variants, the group explores shared and disorder-specific genetic influences across mental disorders and related traits, including through approaches that combine multiple polygenic scores (multi-PGS). In addition, the group investigates epigenetic, transcriptomic, and other molecular data to better understand the biology of mental disorders. Current research includes studies of DNA methylation and gene expression in postmortem brain tissue from individuals with BPD.

To understand how genetic risk identified in large-scale genome-wide studies relates to mental health in the general population, the group conducts research in population-based cohorts, particularly the German National Cohort (NAKO) and the UK Biobank. Here, the group examines how genetic predisposition, stressful life experiences, lifestyle, and environmental factors relate to depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric symptoms. Combining genetic, clinical, and neuroimaging data with statistical and AI-supported methods, the research aims to identify profiles of risk, resilience, and clinical heterogeneity. The FALCO project extends this approach to sex-sensitive prediction of alcohol use disorder trajectories, combining genetic risk profiles and other predictors in NAKO and clinical cohorts.

A further goal is to translate genetic and population-based findings into clinical research at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH). The GEN-ZI project, funded through the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), links genome-wide genetic data from the first 1,000 patients of the Diagnosis and Admission Center with detailed information from routine psychiatric care. This resource supports research into differences in clinical presentation and the development of multimodal prediction and stratification models. Together, these efforts aim to connect genetic discoveries with clinically meaningful differences in mental health and disease course.