Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a Project Grant of $534,191 to The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (Health Sciences Division) effective April 1, 2026, through December 31, 2030, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). This award funds the development of novel genetic discovery methodologies for neuropsychiatric traits, specifically addressing the complexity of causal variant identification across genetically diverse populations. The research project will develop robust fine-mapping tools designed to account for heterogeneity in effect sizes and linkage disequilibrium structure across populations of varying geographic origins, addressing a critical gap in psychiatric genetic research where existing methods produce suboptimal power and can prioritize non-causal variants.

The project directly supports NIMH's mission to transform understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research by leveraging deep phenotype data from major neuropsychiatric genetics initiatives including the Latin American Genomics Consortium, Genomics of Autism in Latino Ancestries, Ancestral Population Network, and PsychEmerge. By developing methodologies that properly model population heterogeneity and account for correlations across geographic origins, the research will enhance the transferability of genetic discoveries across diverse populations and improve understanding of disease pathophysiology in autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and related neuropsychiatric conditions.