This page is dedicated to the Early-Onset Severe Psychiatric Disorders research study, one of 57 studies supported by the Boston Children’s Rare Disease Collaborative (CRDC). For more information about the CRDC, please visit our home page. Established in 2018, the CRDC supports pediatric rare disease research and provides families with genetic diagnoses that enable personalized treatments, including precision medicine and targeted therapies.
The Early-Onset Severe Psychiatric Disorders research study, established at Boston Children’s in 2019 and led by Drs. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich and Catherine Brownstein, has enrolled 24 patients and their families. The study aims to identify genetic causes of early-onset severe psychiatric disorders and provide personalized medicine.
Early-onset severe psychiatric disorders such as major depression, bipolar, and psychotic spectrum illnesses are conditions that are documented before the age of 14 years old. They rarely present before age 14, but when they do, the illness is usually more severe and carries a higher risk of long-term disability.
Individuals with early-onset severe psychiatric disorders are more likely to have an underlying genetic cause for their condition. Learn more about early-onset severe psychiatric disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and psychotic spectrum illnesses.
Key outcomes
To date, 72% of patients have a candidate finding identified that is being further researched.
Participate in research
Physicians may refer their patients with diagnoses of early-onset severe psychiatric disorders to Drs. Gonzalez-Heydrich and Brownstein. Once study eligibility is confirmed, a research coordinator will reach out to the family to consent and enroll them. Read more about their studies, on their research profiles: Dr. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich, Dr. Catherine Brownstein.
Patient care
Patients and their families with early-onset severe psychiatric disorders can be seen by expert multidisciplinary teams in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children’s.
Investigators
Divisions
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research
- Genetics and Genomics
- Tommy Fuss Center
Notable publications by investigators
- Children with Early-Onset Psychosis Have Increased Burden of Rare GRIN2A Variants.
- 16p13.11 deletion variants associated with neuropsychiatric disorders cause morphological and synaptic changes in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons.
- Similar Rates of Deleterious Copy Number Variants in Early-Onset Psychosis and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Disease support organizations
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
The mission of AACAP is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, education, and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists throughout their careers.
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
DBSA provides hope, help, support, and education to improve the lives of people who have mood disorders.
HEARD Alliance
The HEARD Alliance (Health Care Alliance for Response to Adolescent Depression) provides resources and information for supporting youth with depression and related conditions, and preventing suicide in adolescents and young adults.
NAMI
NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
The Kids Mental Health Foundation
The Kids Mental Health Foundation is the leading organization promoting mental health for children in the United States.
The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation
The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation is dedicated to fostering awareness, understanding and research for early-onset bipolar disorder. The Foundation is on a QUEST FOR THE TEST™ to find an empirical, biomarker test for bipolar disorder so that early detection and early intervention become a reality.