Research

Volunteering for Research Studies

Multiple clinical studies are either underway or planned. Studies may involve patients with schizophrenia, individuals without mental illness, or both. Contact Ms. Nadine Yoritomo, RN at 410-502-5887 or schizophrenia@jhmi.edu for additional information.

While it is clear that abnormalities of brain function underlie schizophrenia, the nature and causes of the brain dysfunction remain unknown. The research efforts of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Program are guided by the philosophy that development of rational therapeutics for schizophrenia will depend on discovery of both the factors that cause schizophrenia and the effect of these factors on brain structure and function. This philosophy has led the investigators of the Schizophrenia Program to ask a series of interrelated questions:

• It is possible to distinguish different types of schizophrenia based on detailed examination of symptoms and cognition?
• What genes are involved in schizophrenia?
• What brain processes are altered by mutations or variations in these genes?
• What interventions might help normalize these perturbed brain processes? 
• Do genetic factors interact with environmental factors to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia?
• In individuals with schizophrenia, which brain structures are abnormal in structure or function?
• Do certain genetic mutations, or specific brain structural or functional abnormalities, correlate with different subtypes of schizophrenia? 
• Do differences in symptoms, genetics, or brain structure or function predict response to current treatments for schizophrenia? 
• How can we use information about schizophrenia symptoms, genetic factors, and brain structure and function to design better treatment studies? 

Dr. Nicola Cascella  and Dr. David Schretlen have a long-term interest in exploring subtypes of schizophrenia, with the goal of better defining different forms of the illness. This is accomplished by careful clinical examinations, and correlations of clinical symptoms with brain imaging and cognitive profiles.

 The Laboratory of Genetic Neurobiology, directed by Dr. Margolis, is using genetic approaches complementary to traditional linkage and association analyses to find genetic etiologies and risk factors for schizophrenia. For instance, the Laboratory is using state of the art “chip” technology to understand the potential contribution of DNA instability to the risk of developing schizophrenia.  Another project involves searching for genetic mutations in families with multiple members affected by schizophrenia.  One such family was determined to have a mutation in the DISC1 gene;  the biological implications of this mutation are under active investigation. 

Unique views of the living brain to guide diagnosis and treatment.  Faculty members of the Schizophrenia Program are using multiple approaches to image brain structure and function in schizophrenia.  Dr. Sarah Reading, a member of the Division of Neuroimaging of the Department of Psychiatry, is using new methods of brain imaging to determine the structural and functional abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. One of these methods, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), enables Dr. Reading to view white matter tracts, the pathways that connect one region of the brain to another.  Along with colleagues from the Department of radiology, she has developed new approaches that greatly facilitate analysis of DTI data.  Dr. Reading is also examining the nature of schizophrenia using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a technique that shows brain regions that are active during a particular moment in time.  Dr. David Schretlen is also using these methods, along with volumetric using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine quantitative measures of brain volume. His goal is to determine how changes in the structure of specific regions of the cerebral gray matter (a neuron-rich region that performs many of the most complex tasks of the brain) correlate with the clinical and cognitive abnormalities of schizophrenia.  Taken together, these methods promise unique insights into the abnormalities of brain structure and circuitry that underlie schizophrenia. The potential impact is great: early and accurate diagnosis, objective data on disease course and the success of treatment, and leads into developing new and better treatments.

New approaches to protecting the brain.  Dr. Thomas Sedlak’s research interest is in exploring novel pathways that lead to the injury and death of neurons, and potential mechanisms to block this pathogenesis. 

Finding new therapeutic targets for  the treatment of schizophrenia.  Dr. Nucifora begins with genetic findings as a starting point, and then applies biochemical techniques and cell models to determine the biochemical pathways that are dysfunctional in schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders.   His goal is use this information to find approaches to the treatment of schizophrenia. 

SCHIZOPHRENIA COLLABORATIONS AT JOHNS HOPKINS 

The faculty of the Schizophrenia Program work closely with a number of other investigators at Johns Hopkins, helping to recruit patients for studies, collecting and storing clinical samples, and exchanging advice and expertise.

Dr. Christopher Ross directs the Division of Neurobiology in the Department of Psychiatry and is an expert in the development of biochemical, cell, and animal models for the study of genetic diseases of the brain.

Dr. Mikhail Pletnikov, Director of the Behavioral Neurobiology and Neuroimmunology Lab, uses cell and mouse models to study the interaction of genetic and infectious factors and the neurobiology of schizophrenia.

Dr. Akira Sawa directs the Program in Molecular Biology in the Department of Psychiatry, with a focus on the translational neuroscience of schizophrenia. 

Dr. Robert Yolken directs the Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology in the Department of Pediatrics of the School of Medicine, with an emphasis on the role of infection and immune response in psychiatric diseases.

Dr. Ann Pulver directs the Epidemiology-Genetics Program in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders, a multidisciplinary team using large population samples to search for the genetic and non-genetic risk factors underlying severe mental disorders. 

Dr. David Valle, Director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine,  applies multiple genetic techniques to determine risk factors for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. 

Dr. James Potash directs research for the Mood Disorder Program in the Department of Psychiatry and investigates genetic and epigenetic factors in bipolar disorder and depression, and the overlap between schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Dr. Dean Wong, Vice Chair of the Department of Radiology, is a pioneer in the imaging of brain receptors using PET and other technologies. 

Dr. Bill Eaton, Chair of the Department of Mental Health in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, is investigating the epidemiology and factors contributing to long term outcome of schizophrenia.