Hafta 1
Course Introduction & Brief workshop on Reading and Writing • Topic: Overview of the course. A roadmap for reading papers efficiently and critically. Scientific writing workshop
Hafta 2
Foundations • Topic: What is psychiatric disease? Nature, nurture, and interaction • Readings: o Caspi et al. (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. [Science] o Kendler KS (2012). The dappled nature of causes of psychiatric illness: replacing the organic–functional/hardware–software dichotomy with empirically based pluralism. [Molecular Psychiatry]
Hafta 3
Heritability and Twin Studies • Topic: What twin studies tell us—and don’t • Readings: o Sullivan, Daly, & O'Donovan (2018). Genetic architectures of psychiatric disorders: the emerging picture and its implications. [Nature Reviews Genetics] o Plomin et al. (2013). Behavioral genetics or any other book on behavioral genetics.
Hafta 4
Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) • Topic: Clinical promise vs. interpretive caution • Readings: o Torkamani et al. (2018). The personal and clinical utility of polygenic risk scores. [Nature Reviews Genetics] o Chatterjee et al. (2016). Developing and evaluating polygenic risk prediction models for stratified disease prevention. [Nature Reviews Genetics]
Hafta 5
Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) • Topic: Insights and limitations • Readings: o Trubetskoy, V., et al. (2022). Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia. [Nature] o Gene S. Fisch (2022). Associating complex traits with genetic variants: polygenic risk scores, pleiotropy and endophenotypes [Genetica]
Hafta 6
Gene × Environment Interactions (G×E) • Topic: Models and controversies • Readings: o Uher & McGuffin (2010). The moderation by the serotonin transporter gene of environmental adversity in the etiology of depression: 2009 update. [Molecular Psychiatry] o Duncan & Keller (2011). A critical review of the evidence for gene–environment interactions in depression.[Molecular Psychiatry]
Hafta 7
Epigenetics and Psychiatric Disorders • Topic: Beyond DNA sequence • Readings: o Nestler et al. (2016). Epigenetic mechanisms of depression. [JAMA Psychiatry] o Ladd-Acosta & Fallin (2016). The role of epigenetics in genetic and environmental epidemiology.[Epigenomics] • Mid-course check-in for feedback and adjustments
Hafta 8
Developmental Timing and Early Life Stress • Topic: Sensitive periods and early adversity • Readings: o Heim & Binder (2012). Current research trends in early life stress and depression: Review of human studies on sensitive periods, gene-environment interactions, and epigenetics. [Experimental Neurology] o Teicher & Samson (2016). Annual Research Review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. [Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry]
Hafta 9
Socio-environmental Determinants • Topic: Poverty, urbanicity, and inequality • Readings: o Evans, Li, & Whipple (2013). Cumulative risk and child development. [Psychological Bulletin] o Gülöksüz, S., et al., (2019). Examining the independent and joint effects of molecular genetic liability and environmental exposures in schizophrenia: results from the EUGEI study. [World Psychiatry]
Hafta 10
Ethnicity, Population Stratification, and Bias • Topic: Who gets studied? The problem of generalizability • Readings: o Popejoy & Fullerton (2016). Genomics is failing on diversity. [Nature] o Martin et al. (2019). Clinical use of current polygenic risk scores may exacerbate health disparities. [Nature Genetics]
Hafta 11
Neuroimaging Genetics • Topic: Linking genes, brain, and behavior • Readings: o Bogdan et al. (2018). Neurogenetics and the future of imaging genetics. [Biological Psychiatry] o Elliott et al. (2018). Genome-wide association studies of brain imaging phenotypes in UK Biobank. [Nature]
Hafta 12
Precision Psychiatry and Biomarkers • Topic: Is it possible? Is it desirable? • Readings: o Insel TR (2014). The NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project: precision medicine for psychiatry.[American Journal of Psychiatry] o Hariri & Holmes (2015). Finding translation in stress research. [Nature Neuroscience]
Hafta 13
Challenges in Causal Inference • Topic: Mediation, confounding, and triangulation • Readings: o Munafò & Davey Smith (2018). Robust research needs many lines of evidence. [Nature] o Lawlor et al. (2017). Triangulation in aetiological epidemiology. [International Journal of Epidemiology]
Hafta 14
Ethics, Stigma, and the Future of Psychiatric Genetics Final Presentations & Wrap-Up • Topic: Power, labeling, and misuse • Readings: o Kirmayer & Crafa (2014). What kind of science for psychiatry? [Frontiers in Human Neuroscience] • Activity: Student final project presentations (10–12 minutes each) • Discussion: Revisiting themes, open Q&A, course synthesis