RESEARCH | Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine

The Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine has basic research programs in several different areas.

Ongoing projects are aimed at understanding the genetic basis of various psychiatric conditions including bipolar disorder, suicidal behavior and neurodevelopmental disorders. The research will fill in crucial knowledge gaps about how genetic risk variants produce altered gene expression/function and ultimately the associated behavioral phenotypes and symptoms. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans serves as a behavioral readout system for characterizing risk genes for suicidal behavior and neurodevelopmental disorders.

A second area of focus concerns pharmacological strategies to regulate the Na⁺ leak channel (NALCN). This channel is a risk gene for bipolar disorder and is also involved in the neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. In addition, rare genetic mutations in the NALCN cause developmental delay with intellectual disability, autism and disordered movement. We seek to find channel modulators that could be useful in the treatment of these different conditions. This effort includes biological screening of chemical libraries, molecular modeling, and the design of novel lead compounds.

Finally, research is underway to characterize risk genes for autism spectrum disorders with respect to their biological function, brain expression and relevant behavioral phenotypes. Various faculty, residents, graduate students, and research associates have contributed to this work over the years. Exciting research opportunities are available for residents, especially in the third and fourth years of the residency program.