# Statistical methods to localize disease heritability and identify biological mechanisms

> **NIH NIH R37** · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · 2021 · $125,380

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Schizophrenia is a psychotic, chronic and disabling disorder, affecting about 1% of the general
population. Identifying individuals at risk for developing this disorder is crucial for establishing
preventive interventions. So far, the assessment of risk of developing psychosis has been based
primarily on clinical features, the accuracy of which is not optimal for development and
implementation of preventive interventions. Evaluation of psychosis risk improves when genetic
risk is taken into account. Thus, development of robust measure of genetic risk for psychosis
offers a possibility of improvement in assessment of psychosis risk. Recent success of genome-
wide association studies in schizophrenia allows the calculation of a polygenic risk score that
reflects a cumulative impact of common genetic variants on the development of the disorder and
related phenotypes. The aim of this study is to examine the performance of such schizophrenia
polygenic score on evaluation of psychosis risk in a sample of individuals at high risk of developing
psychosis based on clinical features. The examination will extend to the performance of the
genetic score in individuals of non-European descent. This will advance our tools for identification
of psychosis risk and, consequently, its preventive interventions in diverse populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10379539
- **Project number:** 3R37MH107649-07S1
- **Recipient organization:** BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin Michael Neale
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $125,380
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2015-07-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10379539

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10379539, Statistical methods to localize disease heritability and identify biological mechanisms (3R37MH107649-07S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-17 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10379539. Licensed CC0.

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