Koenen Lab
Principal Investigator: Karestan C Koenen
Institution: Broad Institute (Cambridge, MA)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
The broad goal of this application is to advance PTSD genetic discovery by leveraging a partnership between the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Working Group (PGC-PTSD) and a network of African investigators, including the Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations (NeuroGAP) program and the Ugandan Genome Resource (UGR). By the end of 2022, the PGC-PTSD will achieve the largest genetic mapping of PTSD to date based on multiethnic meta-analysis of > 1,280,000 samples, leading to 95 risk loci meeting genome-wide significance for PTSD. Beyond discovery, recent work on polygenic risk scores in PTSD shows the potential for the utility of these measures in research. African genomes are characterized by shorter haplotype blocks and contain almost a million more variants per individual than populations outside Africa. The lower correlation between genetic markers in African populations is also useful for fine- mapping disease-causing alleles. Data from African populations in genetic studies of PTSD are critical to generate a complete picture of genetic risk factors and identify potentially missing novel therapeutic signals garnered by studying all pop…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01MH134468-04: Genetics of PTSD in African Ancestry Populations (2026)
- 5R01MH134468-03: Genetics of PTSD in African Ancestry Populations (2025)
- 5R01MH134468-02: Genetics of PTSD in African Ancestry Populations: Enhancing discovery by addressing inequality (2024)
- 5U01MH125045-05: 2/4 Powering Genetic Discovery for Severe Mental Illness in Latin American and African Ancestries (2024)
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