Although the genetic contribution to bipolar disorder has been unequivocally demonstrated, few specific genetic risk factors have been confirmed. The factors identified explain only a small proportion of the genetic contribution to bipolar disorder. Mark A. Frye, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, discusses the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine’s Biobank for Bipolar Disorder, a resource for the bipolar research community working to confirm those risk factors and discover additional contributors to bipolar disorder susceptibility and response to treatment.
The biobank project is a multisite endeavor. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, serves as the primary location, but researchers from the University of Minnesota, Lindner Center of Hope in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mayo Clinic’s Arizona and Florida campuses, and Mayo Health System sites are contributing to the effort and will continue to collaborate following completion of infrastructure development in 2012. The large-scale biobank will collect biological samples and clinical data from 2,000 individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Nearly 500 adults are currently enrolled.
Biobank to include children
Funding for an individualized medicine biobank for pediatric bipolar disorder was approved in May 2010. Several linked studies are planned. A study of children at risk for bipolar disease will include participants whose parents are included in the adult study. Additional participants will be recruited for the Pediatric Bipolar Biobank study, which focuses on children in whom bipolar disorder has already developed. Researchers will begin recruitment after the study protocol is approved.
