Columbia University has opened the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health to utilize precision medicine in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental illnesses. Funded by a $75m grant from the SNF, the center aims to develop new approaches that focus on disease mechanisms and target treatment based on an individual’s unique genetic makeup and biology. Researchers will work to establish causal relationships between brain function and genetic variation to develop new prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options. Other institutions have launched similar hubs, including the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM).
Columbia University has recently launched the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health to catalyze precision medicine for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various mental illnesses. The center received a $75 million grant from the SNF, which is part of the organization’s Global Health Initiative (GHI). The initiative is a joint effort by Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, alongside the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.
The center’s goal is to leverage precision medicine to combat the stigma and discrimination associated with mental healthcare while reducing the societal and individual toll of mental illness through research in neuroscience, psychiatric genomics, stem cell biology, and artificial intelligence. Columbia University’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, expressed gratitude to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for partnering with Columbia University to address the scientific and humanitarian challenge.
Columbia University’s Katrina Armstrong, MD, chief executive officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, explained that existing treatments in psychiatry do not address the root causes of mental illness. Thus, the SNF Center aims to develop new approaches that focus on disease mechanisms and target treatment based on an individual’s unique genetic makeup and biology for the ultimate benefit of lifting care for the community at large.
The SNF Center will benefit from expertise from the New York Genome Center and the New York State Office of Mental Health, both of which are affiliated with Columbia University. According to the press release, the center will conduct research into the causal relationships between brain function and genetic variation. The research aims to develop new prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options.
The center’s major project is the Genomic Medicine for Mental Health Advancement (GeMMA) initiative, which is a collaborative effort with the New York Genome Center (NYGC). The GeMMA initiative will help researchers establish causal relationships between brain function and genetic variation.
Other institutions have also launched hubs for precision medicine research. Earlier this month, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) shared the grand opening of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM). The CEPM is the result of a decade-long collaboration to tackle cancer, Alzheimer’s, and infectious diseases. The CEPM will serve as a mixed-use sciences hub for researchers to advance point-of-care and point-of-use devices and diagnostic tools for stem cell applications, cellular engineering, drug development, and computational neurobiology.
