Symptoms of mental health disorders often begin early in life and affect 1 in 5 Canadian children and youth (1.6 million Canadians). These disorders are highly heritable, emphasizing the importance of identifying genetic risks to support accurate and timely interventions.
The Pan-Canadian Initiative Linking Genomics, Environmental and Mental Health Data in Children and Youth (Pan-GEM) brings together research from across the country to establish a large, diverse database for examining mental health-associated genetic and environmental factors.
Pan-GEM strives to engage a study population that reflects the rich diversity of Canadian youth to ensure that study results can benefit all Canadians.
References at the bottom of page
Establish a collaborative, pan-Canadian network of child and youth mental health researchers with expertise in psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenetics, data science, and health policy.
Build an integrated data pipeline for mental health phenotypic characterization and combination with environmental and genomics data.
Co-develop culturally sensitive research processes to support engagement with groups often underrepresented in genomics research. Diverse representation amongst Pan-GEM participants will ensure that study findings and resulting advances in precision medicine will benefit all young Canadians.
Perform whole-genome sequencing on 6450 children and youth to examine interactions between mental health phenotypes, treatment response, social determinants of health and genetic variation.
Develop practice guidelines and policy recommendations that address Genomics and its Ethical, Environmental, Economic, Legal and Social aspects (GE3LS) through knowledge translation..
Contact pangem@ucalgary.ca to get more information on the project
Children and Youth - Mental Health Commission of Canada . Mental Health Commission of Canada.; 2023 [Available from: https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/what-we-do/children-and-youth/.
Vorstman J, Sebat J, Bourque VR, Jacquemont S. Integrative genetic analysis: cornerstone of precision psychiatry. Mol Psychiatry. 2024.
Fusar-Poli L, Rutten BPF, van Os J, Aguglia E, Guloksuz S. Polygenic risk scores for predicting outcomes and treatment response in psychiatry: hope or hype? Int Rev Psychiatry. 2022;34(7-8):663-75.
Zheutlin AB, Dennis J, Karlsson Linnér R, Moscati A, Restrepo N, Straub P, et al. Penetrance and Pleiotropy of Polygenic Risk Scores for Schizophrenia in 106,160 Patients Across Four Health Care Systems. Am J Psychiatry. 2019;176(10):846-55.
Martin AR, Kanai M, Kamatani Y, Okada Y, Neale BM, Daly MJ. Clinical use of current polygenic risk scores may exacerbate health disparities. Nat Genet. 2019;51(4):584-91.
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