Anne Bassett

Research Synopsis

Dr. Anne Bassett (www.chairs.gc.ca) holds the Canada Research Chair in Schizophrenia Genetics and Genomic Disorders and is an international leader in studying the genetics of schizophrenia. In pioneering work, the Bassett group is identifying and characterizing genetic subtypes of schizophrenia. It is now apparent that a substantial proportion of patients with schizophrenia may have a new or inherited genetic change involving one of several major copy number variants. These structural genetic changes represent an important genetic mechanism in schizophrenia that may also have congenital and later onset medical conditions as part of their expression. The associated genomic disorders present opportunities for research findings to be directly translated into clinical practice. 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) is the prototype of these multisystem disorders. The associated 22q11.2 deletion is the first and most powerful molecular risk factor identified for schizophrenia. Animal (e.g., mouse) models are available and can confirm and extend human research discoveries, including those related to physical illness, cognitive functioning, brain imaging, neuropathology and treatment response.