"The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research"- iPSYCH - is a Danish psychiatric project anchored at Aarhus University. iPYSCH is a collaboration between leading researchers in the field of psychiatry from Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, Central Region of Denmark, Capital Region of Denmark and the Danish State Serum Institute, Copenhagen.
The Lundbeck Foundation decided three times to fund the iPSYCH project: In 2012, with 121 million DKK for a three-year period starting on March 1, 2012; in 2015, with a new three-year funding of 120 million DKK; and recently, a new three-year funding of 120 million DKK, starting on March 1, 2018.
The iPSYCH project involves six research groups, covering areas within medicine, molecular biology, bioinformatics, statistics, psychology and many more. Each research group investigates aspects of five specific mental disorders: autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. All mental disorders are studied from different angles, including environmental, genetic and psychological risk factors. Information ranging from fetal to adult life, gathered from population studies, allows researchers within iPSYCH to examine possible causes and symptoms of a given disorder.
More than 150 researchers are involved in research activities within iPSYCH – most of them based in Aarhus and Copenhagen. However, iPSYCH also collaborates with skilled researchers from centres in the international research community such as the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, deCode Genetics, Iceland and the Genetic Biobank of the Faroe Islands.
For more information, please visit the iPSYCH-website
One of iPSYCH’s greatest achievements is the establishment of the iPSYCH2012 case-cohort sample, which provides researchers with unprecedented access to study the environmental and genetic risk factors associated with mental disorders.
The iPSYCH2012 sample includes the entire Danish Population born between 1981 and 2005, including 1,472,762 persons. Representative cases are identified within the sample, involving persons with the specific mental disorders: Schizophrenia, autism, affective disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The iPSYCH2012 sample provides a solid foundation for a range of studies to be conducted for decades to come: Not only is it a rich and unique database for research in its current version, but it also constitutes a logistic and organizational framework for future studies. Access to the iPSYCH2012 sample will accelerate epidemiological research on preventing and treating severe mental disorders for the benefit of patients, their families, and society in general.
Moreover, future studies will benefit from the continued dialogue between epidemiological research projects within the iPSYCH consortium and large-scale studies available only through collaboration with leading international research communities.
For more info: The iPSYCH2012 case–cohort sample: new directions for unravelling genetic and environmental architectures of severe mental disorders