Project news

Meet Lennart Oblong, a FAMILY PhD student in the Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Genetics group at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, supervised by Emma Sprooten. His PhD research focuses on uncovering how genetic variation influences brain function and behavior, particularly in the context of intergenerational transmission of mental health-related traits. In this brief interview, Lennart shares insights into his role in the FAMILY project, what inspired his journey into science, and the most surprising discovery he has encountered in his research so far.

Meet María Ortuño, a FAMILY PhD student in the Multimodal Neuroimaging in High Risk and Early Psychosis group at the Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (IDIBAPS), under the supervision of Gisela Sugranyes. Her doctoral research explores markers of glutamatergic dysfunction in adolescents at high risk of developing psychosis. In this brief interview, María shares insights into her role in the FAMILY project, what inspired her to pursue a career in science, the most surprising discovery of her journey so far, and what motivates her in the day-to-day challenges of research.

Introducing Signe Mežinska, associate professor of bioethics at the University of Latvia in Riga and the leader of work package 8 in the FAMILY project. With a background in bioethics and sociology, Signe’s research interests encompass biomedical research ethics, the protection of research participants’ rights, the ethics of biobanking and biotechnologies, reproductive ethics, and the rational use of medicines. This brief interview offers insights into the FAMILY project, particularly work package 8, explores Signe’s strategies for maintaining balance in the challenging world of science, and provides valuable advice for young researchers.

We are excited to share the publication of the layman version of our consortium paper Understanding and predicting the intergenerational transmission of mental illness featured in the October issue of Open Access Government!

We believe that layman versions of scientific publications are crucial for making research more accessible and helping to bridge the gap between scientific experts and the general public. Additionally, they encourage informed decision-making and promote greater awareness of, in our case, mental health research, that might impact everyday life.

📑 From the full text:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 (𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴) 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘦𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢, 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱.”

From 09 to 11 October 2024 the FAMILY consortium met in Riga, Latvia, for the 3rd General Assembly Meeting. We had a wonderful time together, discussed our latest research results and left with our heads full of new ideas for projects and collaboration. We are excited to see where these new ideas will take us!

Postdoctoral researcher Patricia Camprodon-Boadas from Hospital Clinic Barcelona – Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) had the opportunity to visit the Psychosis Research Unit at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, led by Professor Ole Mors. 🧠

Read Patricias reflection on her research stay here:
During my 4-week research stay in August 2024, I became familiar with the remarkable team working on the Danish High Risk and Resilience Study, one of the familial high risk cohorts involved in the FAMILY Project. My time there allowed me to focus on key tasks related to the harmonization of clinical data, an essential part of FAMILY. The experience not only broadened my research perspective but also gave me the chance to engage with highly skilled professionals in the field of mental health research.
Aarhus is a lovely city, and I thoroughly enjoyed the balance between work and sightseeing. The collaborative environment and the dedication of the team made the experience truly enriching.
If you ever have the chance to immerse yourself in a research stay abroad, I highly recommend Aarhus as a destination!

Thank you, Patricia, for sharing these insights with us!

September 25-27, 2024 Mainz/Germany // September 24: Satellite Workshop
The symposium takes place as an IN-PERSON meeting (30 min. from Frankfurt International Airport).

Follow & find us on X: @ResilienceRes #resilience2024

Abstract & Registration Deadlines: July 31st 2024.

#RESILIENCE2024

It’s that time of year again this September: international luminaries in resilience research are coming together in Mainz to present and debate the latest research findings.

Since the symposium took place for the first time in 2015, it has been regarded as the most important gathering for international resilience researchers and shapes the field of research every year.

Be there when the International Symposium on Resilience Research invites you to its 10th anniversary this year and opens the doors to the latest findings from the research landscape.

Download the program here.

Click here for more information & registration!

On September 11th, 2024, at the 21st Biennial Congress of the EPA Section Epidemiology & Social Psychiatry in Lausanne, Switzerland, we had an inspiring session on “Early Risk and Protective Profiles Assessed before the Onset of Psychopathology among Offspring at High Familial Risk of Severe Mental Illnesses”, chaired by the brilliant Kerstin von Plessen and Caroline Vandeleur.

Neeltje van Haren, Anne Thorup, Caroline Vandeleur, Manon Hillegers and Patricia Camprodon-Boadas from the FAMILY consortium presented key results from their familial high risk (fHR) cohort studies, providing valuable insights into early mental health risk factors. 🧠

We would like to thank the audience for their questions and engagement and the organizers of this congress for the opportunity to share our research! 👏

The EPA section Epidemiology & Social Psychiatry is delighted to invite to their 21st congress, taking place on the campus of the University of Lausanne very nicely located on the shores of the Lake Geneva.

KEY DATES
Congress dates: 11-14 September 2024
Registration open: 01 February 2024
Call for abstracts: 01 February 2024
Abstract submission until 15 April 2024

The field of psychiatric epidemiology and social psychiatry has rapidly progressed during the last years by combining traditional clinical and epidemiological data with genetic, neuroimaging, accelerometry and ecological momentary measures in single studies or large databases.

By organizing overviews by distinguished experts in specific domains of our field, symposia, free oral presentations and poster sessions, the meeting will focus on recent advancements throughout Europe and beyond. Following the tradition of previous meetings, this conference will also offer an excellent opportunity for young researchers to present their results and to exchange with each other and with experienced researchers in the field.

Meet Raffael Kalisch, professor for human neuroimaging and a key expert in resilience research for the FAMILY project. His objective is to understand the reasons why certain children remain unaffected by their parents’ mental illness, exploring the factors that contribute to their resilience. In this brief interview, Raffael explains the specifics of his role within the FAMILY project, shares his enthusiasm for the project and reveals the best part about being a scientist.

FAMILY partner EUFAMI organizes together with the Lithuanian member-organisation LSPŽGB congress on “Conflict and Recovery in Mental Health” from 21 to 22 June 2024 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Against a background of disruption and conflict in Europe over the past few years, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and also due to the significant displacement of war and cultural refugees, families have been the centre of, and most affected by, these crises.

The congress will be constructed around a plenary session during a period of two days, followed by a series of parallel workshops.

Meet Isabelle Mansuy, professor in neuroepigenetics and leader of work package 6 in the FAMILY project. In FAMILY she helps to define the role of behavioural and biological factors related to the intergenerational transmission of risk of mental illness using mouse models. In this brief interview, Isabelle dives into the details of her role in FAMILY, what is motivating her as a scientist and shares her best advice for early career scientists.

Meet Ryan Muetzel, assistant professor at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and co-leader of work package 2. Within the project, Ryan plays a crucial role in overseeing data management, data harmonization, and essential infrastructure. He provides insights into the FAMILY project, his role as a scientist, and conveys valuable tips for future generations, addressing 5 short yet intriguing questions.

Read the full report about the event here!

FAMILY is very grateful to all participants for joining our Stakeholder Dialogue Event, discussing ethical aspects & social consequences of risk prediction of severe mental illness. Stay tuned for the report!

THANK YOU to all participants for your time, presence, & valuable contributions! And thanks to Neeltje van Haren & Signe Mezinska for chairing the event, as well as our volunteer moderators!

The FAMILY consortium is delighted to extend a warm invitation to our first Stakeholder Dialogue Event, focusing on ethical aspects and social consequences of prediction of risk of severe mental illness.

Date: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Time: 3- 5 PM (CET)
Location: online, via Zoom (free of charge)

The aim of the first Stakeholder Dialogue Event is to build a dialogue between the European communities of health care professionals and researchers on ethical aspects and social consequences of prediction of risk of severe mental illness. Risk prediction for mental health problems is a prominent focus of research in psychiatry. However, risk prediction comes with ethical and social challenges, such as questions about informed consent, the right not to know, risk of stigmatisation and discrimination, empowerment and strengthening resilience of affected families, responsible use of Artificial Intelligence etc.

The main objective of this event is to gather feedback about views, needs and potential involvement of health care professionals which will serve as input for the planned FAMILY survey for health care professionals across Europe.

For more information click here!

In our first video, meet Neeltje van Haren, professor of brain development & psychopathology and the driving force behind the FAMILY project. In her role as FAMILY’s scientific coordinator she not only initiated the project, but also successfully brought together an exceptional consortium spanning Europe and the United States. The subjects covered in this brief interview include insights into the project, Neeltje’s personal scientific journey, and valuable advice for aspiring young researchers.

The members of the FAMILY consortium met in early October 2023 in the beautiful city of Lausanne, Switzerland, to discuss recent research results and advancements in the project. After one year of hard work, it was great seeing everyone in person again – old and new faces.

André Decraene, EUFAMI Vice-president, closed the event with powerful words, that resonated with the FAMILY members, underscoring the profound significance of our project’s mission:

“Intergenerational transmission of serious mental ill-health is at the heart of the concerns of patients, their families and – it cannot be stressed enough– of their friends, their relatives and other connections. It is the “elephant in the room”: nobody speaks about it, but everybody thinks of it. It is a cause for stigma and ostracisation. It touches people in their most intimate being.”

FAMILY’s 2nd General Assembly (GA) Meeting will take place from 04 to 06 October 2023 in the beautiful city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

During the meeting, work package leaders will present and discuss the overall status of their respective work package.

We are looking forward to meet again and hear about everyone’s progress!

📢 Dr. Ali Jawaid is a physician-scientist with training in both clinical and basic neuroscience. He completed his medical studies from the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, and followed it up with clinical/research training in Neuropsychiatry from Baylor College of Medicine, USA. He then proceeded to complete MD-PhD in Neuroscience from Switzerland with simultaneous doctoral degrees awarded by the University of Zurich (UZH)/ETH Zurich PhD Program in Neuroscience and UZH MD-PhD program. He currently heads the Laboratory for Translational Research in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TREND lab) at the BRAINCITY: Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders, a partnership between EMBL and the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw, Poland. TREND lab investigates the role of metabolic factors in the pathogenesis and inheritance of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders using a multi-pronged approach involving rodent models, human cohorts, and brain organoids. Dr. Jawaid is also an active member of FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence and is a strong proponent of initiatives focussed on using science for humanitarian and peace-building causes.

Welcome to the FAMILY, Ali! 😊

Find out more about our SEAB members here.

Our partners from Nijmegen (RADBOUDMC) will attend the Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) organise a symposium taking place in Montréal, Canada on 22^nd – 26^th July 2023 and will organise a symposium on neuroimaging-genetics.

Our partners from Latvia (LU) will organise a symposium on the “Prediction of severe mental illness in child and adolescent psychiatry” and have a talk on “Ethical issues in personalized risk prediction of severe mental illness in the context of inter-generational transmission of risk”.

Our partners from Nijmegen (RADBOUDMC) will attend this year’s Dutch Neuroscience Meeting (DNM) taking place in Tiel, The Netherlands on 22^nd – 23^rd June 2023 and are also planning to give a talk. Stay tuned for further information.

📢 Exciting opportunity! ERASMUS MC seeks a talented Postdoc Researcher to investigate epigenetics and intergenerational psychiatric risk. Joining the European-funded FAMILY consortium, you’ll develop prenatal exposure scores based on DNA methylation at birth. Examine whether the transmission load score is stable over time and predicts the development of psychiatric problems. Explore score stability, predictive abilities, and test for sex differences, especially resulting from X-chromosome inactivation. Apply now and make a difference! This application has been closed.

Our partners from Nijmegen (RADBOUDMC) held a talk about “Epigenetics and Psychopathology: What is the importance of timing and role of intergenerational transmission” at the University of Munster on 28^th February 2023.

The EU-funded research project FAMILY kicked off on November 2^nd – 4^th 2022. The meeting was held on site in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and was full of vivid discussions as well as social interaction.

We would like to invite you to participate in our research study, being conducted by our partners at the University of Latvia as a part of FAMILY!

Click here to get to the survey.

The aim of the study is to collect and analyse mental health care professionals’ attitudes towards the future clinical application of novel prediction tools for the risk of severe mental disorders.

Participation in the study is voluntary. The survey is anonymous, and you will not be identifiable based on the information you provide when completing the survey. We estimate will take approximately 12 minutes to complete the survey.

The study has been approved by the Ethics Committee for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Latvia. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Ivars Neiders (ivars.neiders@lu.lv).
The survey will close on Sunday 26th May.

PhD student Parisa Mohammadzadeh from Bjørn Edrup’s group at Region Hovedstaden in Copenhagen had the opportunity to visit the team at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseininstituttet) in Oslo. During April 2024, she worked at the Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, where she finalized her PhD thesis and participated in lab meetings and seminars as part of her research stay.

Read Parisa’s reflections on her research stay:
“I had the pleasure of spending the month of April at PsychGen, a division of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in Oslo, Norway, as part of my change of research environment. Being in the final stages of my PhD, my primary goal was to complete my thesis. I found myself in a calm research setting with dedicated leaders and a flat organizational structure, where each researcher is highly valued. Fortunately, I was able to bring my family along, and we enjoyed exploring the beautiful nature surrounding Oslo with small hiking trips on weekends. While Oslo may not sound as intriguing as traveling to warmer destinations abroad, I can wholeheartedly recommend including it in your PhD journey!“

Thank you, Parisa, for sharing your insights with us!

van Houtum LAEM, Baaré WFC, Beckmann CF, Castro-Fornieles J, Cecil CAM, Dittrich J, Ebdrup BH, Fegert JM, Havdahl A, Hillegers MHJ, Kalisch R, Kushner SA, Mansuy IM, Mežinska S, Moreno C, Muetzel RL, Neumann A, Nordentoft M, Pingault JB, Preisig M, Raballo A, Saunders J, Sprooten E, Sugranyes G, Tiemeier H, van Woerden GM, Vandeleur CL, van Haren NEM

Children of parents with mental illness are more likely to develop a mental illness themselves. This so-called intergenerational transmission of mental illness is not given adequate attention in clinical settings, diagnostics, or childcare. This results in delays in identifying mental health issues in young children, missing opportunities for prevention through protective measures and resilience building. This is where the FAMILY project steps in. The EU-funded FAMILY project is a collaboration between researchers from Europe and the US with the goal of understanding why, how, and when mental illnesses are passed from parents to children. The project focuses on changes in the brain, the epigenome, and genetic and environmental risks, comparing children of parents with and without mental illness, and using relevant animal models for research. The project also uses modern technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a prediction model to help understanding risk for and resilience against mental illness. This model is supposed to estimate the likelihood of a child developing a mental illness if their parents are affected. In addition, the FAMILY project looks at the social and ethical issues related to predicting risks. Overall, this work aims to prepare clinics and hospitals for the potential future use of predictive tools.

This consortium paper summarises the FAMILY project aims to achieve three main objectives:

• advance our understanding of why, how, and when severe mental illnesses are passed down in families and identify the best timing for preventive and intervention measures,
• create statistical models that help predict which children are more likely to develop mental illnesses at specific times given certain risk and resilience factors, and
• provide insights into the social and ethical implications of predicting mental health risks.

>> DEADLINE for registration and abstract submission until 31^st July 2023 <<

The symposium is organized yearly by International Resilience Alliance (intresa), the EU Horizon project DynaMORE, Leibniz-Institute for Resilience Research and University Medical Center Mainz. We are part of the Rhine-Main Neuroscience Network (rmn²).

Early bird deadline:
1^st April 2023

Application deadline:
15^th May 2023