Mental Health

Mental illness accounts for over 15% of the burden of disease in the developed world, which is higher than all cancers combined. Yet, mental illness has received far less attention from researchers and grant funding institutions than other prominent diseases.

A combination of both genetic and environmental factors can negatively affect mental health, resulting in schizophrenia and other personality disorders. Although these diseases have received substantial attention in the field of psychology and other behavioural science disciplines from around the world, geneticists have only begun to focus their attention on unraveling the genetic basis of mental illness.

Our Research

With multiple research groups dedicated to disorders of the brain, CMMT is at the forefront of applying genetics and cellular biology to study the underlying causes of mental illness.

We were the first to discover that the human gene NR2E1 can correct violent behaviour in a mouse modeling pathological aggression. We were also the first to find an association between this gene and bipolar disorder (manic-depressive psychosis), a mental illness which could potentially develop in childhood.

CMMT is also at the epicenter of a large international project to build Mini-Promoters to drive gene expression in defined regions of the brain. This technology would enable gene therapy for brain disorders like multiple sclerosis, ADHD, severe depression, and juvenile forms of Huntington's disease, that are inaccessible to traditional therapy approaches.

Publications

Kumar RA, McGhee KA, Leach S, Bonaguro R, Maclean A, Aguirre-Hernandez R, Abrahams BS, Coccaro EF, Hodgins S, Turecki G, Condon A, Muir WJ, Brooks-Wilson AR, Blackwood DH, Simpson EM. Initial association of NR2E1 with bipolar disorder and identification of candidate mutations in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and aggression through resequencing. Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 147B(6):880-9. (2008) PMID 18205168

Kumar RA, Everman DB, Morgan CT, Slavotinek A, Schwartz CE, Simpson EM. Absence of mutations in NR2E1 and SNX3 in five patients with MMEP (microcephaly, microphthalmia, ectrodactyly, and prognathism) and related phenotypes. BMC Med. Genet. (2007) PMID 17655765

Young KA, Berry ML, Mahaffey CL, Saionz JR, Hawes NL, Chang B, Zheng QY, Smith RS, Bronson RT, Nelson RJ, Simpson EM. Fierce: a new mouse deletion of Nr2e1; violent behaviour and ocular abnormalities are background-dependent. Behav. Brain Res. 132(2):145-58. (2002) PMID 11997145