# Identifying the genetic causes of depression in a deeply phenotyped population from South Korea

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2022 · $1,628,438

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This project addresses the need for a better understanding of the causes of major depressive disorder (MDD)
as a way to improve diagnosis and treatment for the world's leading cause of disability. Genetic approaches, a
path to identifying causal factors and hence finding novel treatments, are proving successful in some psychiatric
disorders, but their application in MDD poses challenges, due to the condition's heterogeneity and the
importance of environmental factors. Success requires studies that take into account heterogeneity by assessing
multiple clinical features, and include measures of environmental risk factors. Furthermore, genetic studies need
to expand their reach to include multiple, ethnically diverse populations, so as to identify additional risk loci,
enable fine-mapping and the identification of likely causal variants, and expand the use of polygenic predictors
of disease to more populations. NIMH, in issuing PAR-20-026, “Genetic Architecture of Mental Disorders in
Ancestrally Diverse Populations”, recognizes this need and in response to this call, we have established an
international collaboration of investigators from South Korea and the United States, with a strong track record of
large-scale psychiatric genetic research in East Asia. We will create the largest East Asian cohort available for
the discovery of new MDD genes, increase the diversity of genetic discovery efforts (a step towards reducing
health disparities), and perform exhaustive analyses to identify likely causal variants and genes involved in MDD.
The aims of the consortium are as follows: Aim 1: To collect from South Korea DNA samples and phenotypes
from 10,000 women with severe recurrent MDD and from 10,000 matched, screened, controls. We will obtain a
comprehensive set of clinical features and risk factors, a deep set of phenotypes that provide a powerful resource
for gene identification. Aim 2: We will genotype samples, map risk loci for MDD in the Korean sample, identify
sources of heterogeneity and examine how genes and environment interact to cause MDD. Aim 3: Identify
genetic loci specific for MDD in a meta-analysis of East Asian cohorts, and refine likely sets of causal variants
by using trans-ancestry fine-mapping in cohorts of different ethnicities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10470895
- **Project number:** 5U01MH126798-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Yong Min Ahn
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,628,438
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-17 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10470895

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10470895, Identifying the genetic causes of depression in a deeply phenotyped population from South Korea (5U01MH126798-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10470895. Licensed CC0.

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