$269,092 awarded to research since 1985

While mental illnesses can be triggered or exacerbated by trauma, poverty, or other interpersonal and socioeconomic factors, predispositions to these conditions are encoded in our genes. Many mental illnesses run in families, and often begin to manifest in childhood. Researching the genetics of conditions like depression, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and Tourette syndrome can help us spot and plan for them, as well as better understand the ways these disorders interact with one another.