北卡大学牵头全球精神基因组联盟第五期：联邦卫生研究院五年拨款1560万美元
位于北卡罗来纳州奥兰治县教堂山市的北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校11月4日宣布，该校获得美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）五年期1,560万美元拨款，将牵头全球精神基因组联盟（Psychiatric Genomics Consortium，简称PGC）的第五期研究。拨款由国立精神卫生研究所与国立药物滥用研究所共同支持。
精神基因组联盟是全球规模最大的精神疾病遗传学协作网络，目前汇聚了66个国家的1,772名研究人员，累计发表学术论文800多篇，系统描绘了精神分裂症、双相情感障碍、重度抑郁症等精神疾病背后的遗传图景。联盟的工作方式是把世界各地队列的基因组数据汇集到统一标准下分析，以足够大的样本量找出与疾病相关的微小遗传信号。
第五期项目名为「精神基因组联盟：机制与转化」。按计划，联盟的遗传数据集规模将从目前的约200万人扩大到近600万人。样本量的跃升有望让研究者识别出更多、更细微的遗传关联，并进一步追问这些关联背后的生物学机制，最终目标是把遗传发现转化为诊断与治疗手段。
项目由北卡大学的帕特里克·沙利文（Patrick F. Sullivan）教授领衔。北卡一方的共同负责人包括Cynthia Bulik、James Crowley与Jerry Guintivano；联盟层面的共同领衔者还包括Arpana Agrawal、Ole Andreassen与Cathryn Lewis等学者，分布在多国的研究机构。
校方表示，这笔拨款巩固了北卡大学在精神遗传学领域的牵头地位。精神疾病影响全球数以亿计的人口，但其生物学基础长期难以摸清；大规模国际协作与持续扩容的数据资源，被认为是把遗传学发现一步步推向临床应用的关键路径。
（来源：北卡罗来纳大学医疗系统）
UNC to Lead Next Phase of Global Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: $15.6 Million NIH Award Over Five Years
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in Orange County, North Carolina, announced on November 4 that it has received a five-year, $15.6 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead the fifth phase of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), the world's largest collaboration in psychiatric genetics. The award is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The consortium brings together 1,772 researchers across 66 countries and has produced more than 800 publications, mapping the genetic architecture behind conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. Its method is to pool genome data from cohorts around the world under common standards, assembling samples large enough to detect the small genetic signals associated with these illnesses.
The fifth phase, titled 'Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Mechanisms and Translation,' will expand the consortium's genetic datasets from roughly 2 million people to nearly 6 million. The larger samples are expected to reveal additional, finer-grained genetic associations and support work on the biological mechanisms behind them — with the stated goal of translating genetic findings into diagnostics and treatments.
The project is led by UNC's Patrick F. Sullivan. Co-leaders at UNC include Cynthia Bulik, James Crowley and Jerry Guintivano, while consortium-wide co-leads include Arpana Agrawal, Ole Andreassen and Cathryn Lewis, among others at institutions in multiple countries.
UNC said the award reinforces its leadership role in psychiatric genomics. Mental illnesses affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, yet their biology has remained difficult to pin down; researchers in the field say sustained international collaboration and ever-larger datasets are the practical route from genetic discovery toward clinical application.
(Source: UNC Health)
来源：北卡罗来纳大学医疗系统
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校地标「老井」（Old Well）。图片来自 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The Old Well, landmark of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Image via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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