2012 Autumn: Integrated Imaging and Genetic Biomarkers in Schizophrenia Workshop

Co-chairs: Stephen Potkin, MD; Henry Riordan, PhD

This session of the Biomarkers Working Group (BWG) will expand upon the 9^th Annual Scientific Meeting which summarized the activities of the BWG regarding the qualitative and quantitative evidence for the grading of imaging biomarkers in schizophrenia with a focus on structural MRI.  The upcoming session will investigate the linkage between these imaging biomarkers and genetics.  Genes and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are clearly related to brain development and function. Brain imaging as a biomarker provides quantitative measurement of brain structure, function and receptor occupancy. Genetic and brain imaging studies in isolation have had limited explanatory power of the causes of schizophrenia and in understanding the response to pharmacological treatment. However, simultaneously considering both brain imaging and genetic factors may yield clear advantages in the quest for useful quantitative biomarkers in clinical trial settings.  These quantitative biomarkers may actually be nearer to the underlying genetic etiological influences than clinical diagnostic categories and have the benefits of less heterogeneity and variability than clinical symptoms. Integrated biomarkers such as these can be used in clinical drug development to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, to provide new targets for drug development, enrich study populations for Proof of Mechanism or Target Engagement studies,  and to develop predictors of clinical response and the development of side-effects.  Tools currently exist to  accomplish many of these goals but there are also many barriers that need to be overcome.  A portion of this session will be dedicated to the practical application of various analytic tools that are designed not only to overcome many of these issues but to help establish the evidence base for these biomarkers and provide essential data needed for biomarker confirmation and validation as well.