Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, & Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab

Transcript

• 00:05Neurogenomics
• 00:06is the study of how
• 00:07our genes
• 00:09influence the brain. So genes
• 00:11act like instructions
• 00:12that help guide how brain
• 00:14cells grow, connect, and communicate.
• 00:17And when these instructions differ
• 00:19from person to person, it
• 00:20can change how the brain
• 00:22develops and how people think,
• 00:24feel, and behave.
• 00:26And so understanding these differences
• 00:28help us understand
• 00:30why some individuals
• 00:31are more vulnerable
• 00:33to conditions
• 00:34like anxiety,
• 00:35ADHD, and OCD.
• 00:40Our lab studies
• 00:41how genetic factors shape early
• 00:43brain development and contribute to
• 00:45mental health conditions in children.
• 00:48And we use genetic data,
• 00:50clinical information,
• 00:52and cellular models to understand
• 00:55which biological pathways are involved
• 00:57and how they influence behavior
• 00:59and risk for different mental
• 01:01health conditions.
• 01:05So our main approach is
• 01:07collecting and analyzing genetic data
• 01:09in families.
• 01:10So looking across hundreds of
• 01:12individuals to find genetic factors
• 01:15that are linked to anxiety,
• 01:16ADHD,
• 01:17ticks, OCD, and related conditions
• 01:19like hair pulling and skin
• 01:21picking.
• 01:22And we use then statistical
• 01:23genetics,
• 01:24computational modeling, and bioinformatic
• 01:27tools to uncover
• 01:28patterns in this data.
• 01:31Yale brings together world class
• 01:33strengths in child psychiatry,
• 01:35genetics, and neuroscience
• 01:37all in the same place.
• 01:39And we're able to collaborate
• 01:41closely
• 01:42with experts across these disciplines.
• 01:45It's also a place where
• 01:46we have access to cutting
• 01:47edge genomic technologies
• 01:50and kind of a clinical
• 01:51community that deeply values science
• 01:54based compassionate care. And so
• 01:56this combination at Yale
• 01:58really makes it an ideal
• 01:59place for this interdisciplinary
• 02:01research.
• 02:05This work could help us
• 02:06understand the earliest biological changes
• 02:09that contribute to childhood onset
• 02:11mental health conditions.
• 02:12And that knowledge may guide
• 02:14earlier identification,
• 02:16more personalized treatments, and new
• 02:18prevention strategies.
• 02:20And our goal is really
• 02:21to move towards supports
• 02:24that are based on underlying
• 02:25biology and not really this
• 02:27one size fits all approach.
• 02:30As a practicing
• 02:31child psychiatrist, I see firsthand
• 02:34how much mental health conditions
• 02:36impact children
• 02:37and their families. And so
• 02:39I'm motivated
• 02:40by the hope that understanding
• 02:42the biology
• 02:43behind
• 02:44these conditions
• 02:45can lead to better care
• 02:46and better outcomes. And while
• 02:48I find the science super
• 02:49exciting and that's why I
• 02:50do this work,
• 02:51for me, it really always
• 02:53comes back to helping kids
• 02:54and their families thrive.