# Biomarker based classification and clustering of Veterans with PTSD

> **NIH VA I01** · VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is both impactful on a societal and
individual basis. Better treatments are needed for our Veterans, and methodological
advancements can facilitate progress in the understanding and treatment of PTSD.
 With the dramatically reduced cost of collection and analysis of DNA there is
now many large repositories that contain relatively comprehensive genetic data.
Furthermore, on the individual level, many Veterans have genetic data available
through commercial (e.g., 23 and Me) or research (e.g., the Million Veteran Program)
entities. It is possible that access to their own genetic data will allow people to leverage
the latest research developments in the aims of receiving state-of-the-art personalized
medicine. New algorithmic advances can allow this data to be utilized for improving
our understanding of conditions, such as PTSD. Machine learning provides a way to
better identify those with PTSD through methods such as boosted trees or deep learning
models. Clustering techniques can provide a way to clarify homogenous subgroups
within Veteran samples.
 This project looks to take a supervised (aka, classification) and unsupervised
(aka, clustering) analytical approach to better understand PTSD using genetic and
neuroimaging data from publicly available data repositories. For this work, features are
selected based on the latest advancements in the literature and models are selected
through rigorous empirical evaluation. Treatment for PTSD, and other disorders, is
potentially limited by classifications that are based on symptom reports such as used in
DSM. This traditional approach creates biologically heterogeneous samples. We
propose applying advanced analytical tools to empirically derived biomarkers to create
homogeneous biologically-based groupings.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10814802
- **Project number:** 5I01BX005918-02
- **Recipient organization:** VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** ALAN N SIMMONS
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-10-01 → 2026-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10814802

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10814802, Biomarker based classification and clustering of Veterans with PTSD (5I01BX005918-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10814802. Licensed CC0.

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