# Integrated cellular profiling and pathway discovery

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $251,456

## Abstract

Core B: Integrated cellular profiling and pathway discovery 
ABSTRACT 
The advent of cellular reprogramming and the evolution of high-throughput sequencing and omic 
methodologies have converged to enable unbiased genome-wide profiling of human cells relevant for the study 
of genetically complex psychiatric disorders. This confluence of technological advances holds tremendous 
promise for transforming our understanding of the biological bases of these disorders. Realizing this promise, 
however, requires substantial material resources, expertise that spans multiple disciplines, and well-designed 
experiments. Our NCRCRG proposal has been organized to meet these demands and exploit state-of-the-art 
techniques to establish a robust iPSC-based discovery platform. The Integrated Cellular Profiling and Pathway 
Discovery Core (Core B) at Janssen and JHU is critical to meeting three key goals of this NCRCRG. The first 
is to develop reliable and robust differentiation protocols for four neural cell types implicated in major 
psychiatric diseases. Core B will validate the efficacy and reproducibility of differentiation to different cell types 
across different sites through quantitative transcriptomic analysis. The second is to identify cellular phenotypes 
of four disease-relevant cell types derived from iPSCs of patients with major psychiatric disorders and explore 
underlying molecular mechanisms. To meet this objective, Core B will perform single-cell RNA-seq analysis for 
each project and, further, hypothesis-driven proteomic and metabolomics analysis. The third goal is to 
integrate all information generated from the NCRCRG for biological pathway discovery, identification of 
potential biomarkers, and to reveal similarities and differences of bipolar disorder (BP) and schizophrenia (SZ) 
at the cellular and molecular levels. Core B will develop a bioinformatics pipeline and interact with each 
Project and core to achieve these goals. Core B will also work with the Administrative Core (Core A) to 
facilitate data sharing among all members of the NCRCRG in real time, and with Core C to contribute to high- 
throughput platform development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9983162
- **Project number:** 5U19MH106434-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** HONGJUN SONG
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $251,456
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9983162

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9983162, Integrated cellular profiling and pathway discovery (5U19MH106434-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9983162. Licensed CC0.

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