🚨🧬 New preprint! We tested whether PGS predicted global functioning across psychiatric hospitalization among 5991 people with schizophrenia.

Big thanks to Margot van de Weijer for spearheading this effort. And to our coauthors Paul Appelbaum, Emily Bassett, and Lucas Matthews

The method raises tricky questions about informed consent and potential harm. We highlight gaps in current practice and provide recommendations for researchers and IRBs.

Check out our preprint on ethical and legal considerations regarding Mendelian Imputation of missing parental genotypes!

Combatting harmful misappropriations of behavioral genetics requires response at multiple levels, including organizational. To that end, the BGA Public Science Committee has released a Statement on the Misuse of Genetics

S/O to my advisors, @jorsmo and Ben Neale; our wonderful collaborators in Finland and @FIMM_UH, especially @APalotie and Olli Pietilänen; and the @StanleyCenter @broadinstitute

Global functioning is used widely to inform treatment and prognosis. In our sample, GF scores were associated with important severity- and course-related variables including hospitalization burden and cognitive performance.

We addressed those gaps using the SUPER-Finland study, which includes linked register data for every psychiatric hospitalization in Finland since 1969. GF has been assessed routinely at inpatient admission and discharge nationwide since 1994. A peek at the raw GF scores:

Some background: recently, interest has increased in using PGS to predict not only lifetime SZ risk, but also clinically relevant disease outcomes. Studies have been limited by small Ns and superficial phenotypes. Here's a nice review of that literature:

Caveat: as is typical in Psych Gen, effect sizes were small and PGS are not sufficiently predictive for clinical use.

These results suggest that integrating genomics with clinically relevant, longitudinal phenotypes may help parse heterogeneity in schizophrenia severity, prognosis, and course.

Leveraging ~120k GF measures from a complete hosp. register, we found that higher SZ PGS predicted worse GF at admission & discharge, and less functional improvement during hospitalization. Higher EA PGS predicted better discharge GF and greater improvement, but worse admit GF

Deadline tomorrow!! Already shaping up to be a great issue.

🚨2 weeks left to submit your abstract for our special issue🚨 "Behavioral Genetics as a Public Science: Impacts and Implications" 🌏🧬 We welcome both empirical and theoretical articles that explore the broader significance of BG research 👇👇 https://t.co/UC7hpBbOvH

Please share! S/O to @BehaviorGenetic for their support And to the other members of the BGA Public Science Committee including @steph_estrera @lucasjmatthews @margotvdweijer @robbeewedow @Cognitive_Camz

🚨Call for submissions!🚨 We're organizing a special issue on "Behavioral Genetics as a Public Science"🧬🌍 Relevant topics include: -Public outreach and education -(Mis)use and (mis)interpretations of BG research -Ethical, legal, and social issues https://t.co/6izxMacm6U

Today, the Guardian, alongside @hopenothate , today publish an in depth undercover investigation into the efforts of a network of far right race and IQ obsessives, who have been trying to influence discourse about race science. https://t.co/AjoO38oVTl

Hello from Singapore! I’ll be giving 2 talks at #WCPG2024. This afternoon, I’ll present work integrating longitudinal functional status data and PGS in schizophrenia. Saturday, I’ll discuss misuse of mainstream genetics language as part of a wonderful symposium on communication.

If you're not following the Behavior Genetics Association account yet (@BehaviorGenetic), please do! 🧬🧠🤸🏽 Me and @margotvdweijer will be running it for the time being, sharing BGA updates and summaries of interesting research from their classic journal 📜 RTs appreciated! 🙏🏽

Shoutout to @lucasjmatthews for organizing a great symposium on the misuse of genetics, and to the conference organizers for putting together a wonderful program. 4/4