EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. It is now obvious that large samples are essential to make much headway on the genetics of Schizophrenia. To identify the genes that underlie'the liability of Schizophrenia; we~wiH recruit aMarge sampleof African American families, primarily fromthe southeasternUS, all of whom have at least one person diagnosed with Schizophrenia. A substantial portion of this set of families will contribute to standard Affected Sibling and Relative Pair linkage analysisand to Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL)analysis of neurocognitive traits; the entire sample will be usedfor admixture mapping in candidate regions of interest. This project also lays the foundation for QTL analysis by examininggenetic influences on cognitive abilities among persons affected by Schizophrenia and their extendedfamily members. This minority sample would be impossible to recruit wifh'ouf multiple participating sifes usirig ffie same protocol Eight insfitufioriaf sKes Rave teamed up under' the Collaborative RQls for Clinical Studies of Mental Disorders to accomplish this goal. This collaboration marries expertise in diagnoses, neuTocognrtKre assessments, family recruitment, and genetic analyses. Substantial samples and refined, multivariatephenotypesshould combineto give unprecedented power to determine susceptibility genes for this disease. Our study is motivated by several considerations. The time is ripe for mergingfiner phenotypic information from rigorous diagnosis, and the analytic tools are in place, both for finer phenotypic characterization and the joint analysisof phenotypes end genotypes. In terms of mental health, AfricanAmerican are an underserved population. The genetic basis of Schizophrenia in the African American population must have ft roots in both Africa and Europe. If the liability alleles for Schizophrenia were different in the two continents, either in kind or frequency, then what-we learn from the study of peoples of European anees-trywill not-necessarily transfer semlessly to the African population and, by extension, to the African American population. Therefore it is essential to study the geneticsof Schizophrenia in African Americanpopulations. Finally, we have and outstanding track record of African American participation in researchstudies,and a deep appreciation of their population genetics. PERFORMANCE SITE ========================================Section End===========================================
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