# Identifying Contributions to the Genetic Correlation Between Alcohol Use Disorders and Schizophrenia

> **NIH NIH F32** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $69,810

## Abstract

The purpose of this postdoctoral fellowship proposal is to support the applicant’s research goal of elucidating
the nature of the shared genomic underpinnings of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). This
will be accomplished by facilitating training in advanced statistical genetic and bioinformatics methods, as well
as building a deeper clinical understanding of the etiology of problematic alcohol use, SCZ, and their
comorbidity. SCZ is a rare but serious mental illness that is associated with significant personal and societal
burden. AUD is more common in individuals with SCZ than in the general population and complicates the
course of SCZ. Common genetic variants contribute to this comorbidity. There remain large gaps in the
literature concerning the nature of the putative genetic and biological overlap between these disorders. This
F32 proposal aims to (1) characterize the genome-wide genetic correlation between SCZ and AUD, examining
whether their shared polygenic liability is enriched in certain categories of variation (e.g. rare vs. common
alleles, regions of the genome conserved across species, genes expressed in certain tissues); (2) identify
genetic variants significantly associated with both SCZ and AUD (via a cross-disorder genome-wide
association study (GWAS)), and examine whether those loci are enriched in genes that show tissue-specific
expression patterns or aggregate within particular biological pathways; (3) parse which aspects of alcohol use
(e.g. casual drinking frequency vs. binge drinking, individual criteria related to negative emotionality vs.
salience) are most associated with polygenic risk for SCZ, and investigate whether incorporating biological
annotations improves the predictive accuracy of polygenic risk scores. In parallel with these research aims, this
fellowship application proposes the following training objectives: (1) gain a better understanding of the genetic
etiology and clinical features of AUD (including phenotype distinctions across the range of AUD symptoms),
SCZ, and dual diagnosis, building a clinical knowledge base to complement the applicant’s methods-focused
graduate training; (2) focused, mentored training in the latest statistical genetic and bioinformatics approaches,
including cross-disorder GWAS, partitioned whole-genome heritability methods, and pathway analyses; (3);
training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR); and (4) general career development including
preparation of a future K01 application. The applicant will be attending courses/workshops to accomplish this
training, as well as one-on-one discussions with her mentoring team, which includes two co-sponsors with
addiction genetics expertise and four consultants with specific expertise in schizophrenia neurobiology and
genetics, statistical genetics and bioinformatics methods development and troubleshooting, and translational
genetics. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to enrich the field’s understanding of the ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9827478
- **Project number:** 5F32AA027435-02
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Emma Covey Johnson
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $69,810
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-12-01 → 2020-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9827478

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9827478, Identifying Contributions to the Genetic Correlation Between Alcohol Use Disorders and Schizophrenia (5F32AA027435-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9827478. Licensed CC0.

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