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Mood Disorders Genetics Research

Family, twin, and adoption studies show a strong genetic component to bipolar disorder and to major depression. Our work focuses on nailing down which of the 25,000 human genes confers the risk for developing these mood disorders. The work has several aspects including clinical assessment of people with bipolar disorder and major depression and their families, laboratory experiments using DNA from those who volunteer for our studies, and analysis of the clinical and genetic information obtained.

Clinical Assessments
We currently have a projects involving new clinical assessments for bipolar disorder. Our research psychiatrists interview those who volunteer and obtain DNA from them by extracting it from white blood cells collected through a routine blood draw. Click on the link below for more information:
BIPOLAR DISORDER GENETICS STUDIES
Laboratory Experiments
In the George Browne Psychiatric Genetics Lab, volunteers' DNA is carefully stored and organized for use in a variety of experiments. Our molecular geneticists carry out experiments designed to identify regions of chromosomes likely to harbor bipolar disorder genes, find new variations within potential disease genes, test the DNA sequence variations in large numbers of individuals, and determine whether particular genes are turned on too high or not enough.
Analysis of Genetic Information
Our statistical geneticists analyze the large amount of data generated, looking for correlations that let us know when our experiments have revealed something of value. We have been particularly interested in examining clinical features of illness such as psychotic symptoms (e.g. hallucinations and delusions), for example, that may correlate with patterns seen in patients’ DNA, and thus distinguish genetically important disease subtypes. Click below to learn more about the tools we use for gene discovery in mood disorders:
BIOINFORMOODICS

WHY STUDY GENETICS?

The identification of bipolar disorder and major depression genes may someday provide benefits to those who are suffering from these illnesses and those at risk for them. For example, genes will point to biochemical pathways of disease and could lead to development of new medications to alter those pathways. In addition, specific disease gene variants might be associated with better response to particular medications; this might provide an opportunity for clinicians to optimize their choice of medications, getting the right drug to the right patient at the right time. There is already good evidence that a variation in the serotonin transporter gene might provide exactly this kind of opportunity in the treatment of major depression. With knowledge of multiple disease genes, genetic testing could be developed for purposes of diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, or early intervention.

RESEARCH TEAM

Principal Investigators on the projects:

James Potash, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Potash is the principal investigator of the family genetic study of bipolar disorder and Co-Director of the Mood Disorders Program. He received his BA from Yale University and his MD and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. One focus of Dr. Potash’s research is the genetics of the psychotic form of bipolar disorder. A second focus is epigenetics, which involves heritable information not contained within the DNA sequence; he has an NIH grant to study the epigenetics of depression.

J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D.
Dr. DePaulo, the Henry Phipps Professor and Director of the Department of Psychiatry, is the co-investigator of the bipolar genetics study. He received his BS from Xavier University and his MD from Johns Hopkins University. He then went on to complete his residency training in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. DePaulo created both the affective disorders clinic at Johns Hopkins and the research program focused on the genetics of affective disorders in the 1980s; he directed them both until 2005. He has authored over 100 scientific publications as well as two books.

Fernando Goes, M.D.
Dr. Goes is an assistant professor investigating the genetic basis of psychotic forms of bipolar disorder. He received his BS from Brown University and his MD from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dean MacKinnon, M.D.
Dr. MacKinnon is the co-principal investigator of the individual genetic study of bipolar disorder. He received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his MD from the University of California at San Diego. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. MacKinnon is also the director of the first-year medical student Psychiatry course. His specific research interest is in the comorbidity (co-occurrence) of mood disorders and anxiety disorders.

Clinicians working on the projects:

Francis Mondimore, M.D.
Dr. Mondimore is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. He received his BA from LaSalle College and his MD from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Mondimore was a member of the faculty at Johns Hopkins before leaving to join the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He returned to the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1999. Dr. Mondimore is the author of numerous books, including Adolescent Depression: A Guide for Parents, Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families, A Natural History of Homosexuality, and Depression: The Mood Disease.

Jennifer Payne, M.D.
Dr. Payne is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the principal investigator of a clinical trial for bipolar depression. She received her BS from Davidson College and her MD from Washington University. She completed her residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she served as chief resident. Dr. Payne’s research interests are mood disorders in women and hormonal influences on mood disorders.

Barbara Schweizer, R.N., B.S.
Mrs. Schweizer is the research nurse for the genetic studies of mood disorders, and a member of the psychiatry department faculty. She has been working with the team for over 15 years and is responsible for supervising all research assistants as well as providing clinical expertise as needed. She received her BS from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Laboratory Team working on the projects:

Peter Zandi, Ph.D.
Dr. Zandi is a genetic epidemiologist working on genetic studies of mood disorders and epidemiologic studies of Alzheimer’s disease. He received his BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in Mental Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Virginia Willour, Ph.D.
Dr. Willour is a geneticist working on genetic studies of mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Down syndrome. She received her BS in Biology and German from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Genetics from Stanford University.

	Yuqing Huo, M.D. Dr. Huo is a laboratory technician working on the genetic studies of mood disorders. She received her MD from Henan Medical University in China. Before coming to Hopkins, Dr. Huo was an Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Henan Medical University.
	Dunya Jancic, Ph.D. Dr. Jancic is a research program analyst for genetics reserch. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas.
	Michael Rongione, M.S. Michael is a research specialist and manages the lab. He received his MS in biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University.
	Fayez Seifuddin, M.S. Fayez is a programmer analyst for genetics research. He received hsi MS in bioinformatics and computational biology from George Mason University.

For more information, please call 410-614-1017 or email moods@jhu.edu

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