Genetic epidemiology

For more than a decade, this work has focused on a specific population, the Roma/Gypsies, whose history of migrations, geographic dispersal, social segregation, as well as traditional endogamy, have shaped up a unique genetic profile that facilitates the discovery of disease genes.

We have been successful in the identification of novel genes and mutations which, although initially found in a specific population, are of general relevance and help doctors and scientists alike to understand the causes and mechanisms of wide-spread disorders affecting the global population.

The other important avenue of our research is schizophrenia, a major psychiatric disorder, with a devastating effect on sufferers and their families. Schizophrenia has been a focus of genetic research for many years, however the complexity of the human brain and the inherent heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders have proved to be a major challenge.

Our studies rely on the pioneering work of the Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, where the use of a comprehensive battery of psychological, electrophysiological and brain imaging tests has allowed the dissection of the clinical category of schizophrenia into subtypes that are more proximal to the biological processes involved and thus more amenable to genetic analysis.

• Bipolar affective disorder in a genetic isolate
• Genetic and phenotype studies of partial epilepsy in Gypsies
• Molecular genetics laboratory, WAIMR