Robert D. Beech, MD, PhD, et al.
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Using microarray profiling in lymphocytes, will determine which genes show altered expression in patients with bipolar depression over an 8-week period after starting treatment with lithium. Will also determine how these changes are related to changes in mood-state and treatment-response.

Haiming Chen, MD, MSc
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Will determine if gene expression regulation in the postmortem brains of individuals with bipolar disorder may be a consequence of sequence variations within expression regulatory regions.

Dr. Oliver Frank
Dr. Wolfgang Seifarth
Clinical Faculty, Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
Mannheim, Germany
Will study tissue specimens from rhesus monkeys treated with haloperidol and clozapine provided by the Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology to provide insight into the mechanisms of action of neuroleptic medications as well as the mechanisms of retroviral regulation within the central nervous system. Results will contribute to improved knowledge about the involvement of endogenous retrovirus activity in the etiopathogenesis of psychiatric diseases.

Miriam L. Greenberg, PhD
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI
Robert H. Belmaker, PhD
Ben Gurion University
Beersheva, Israel
Will attempt to determine which of five short-chain carboxylic acids, similar to valproate, would be the best candidate for a clinical trial based on inhibition of human myo-inositol phosphate synthase.

Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD, et al.
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Using the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium, will attempt to resolve the disease specificity of increased neuregulin1-induced activation. In addition, will begin to address the regional specificity of dysregulation in schizophrenia by determining if erbB4 signaling is altered in the anterior cingulate.

Scott E. Hemby, PhD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC
Will acquire, assess, and prepare, for strictly regulated distribution, tissue samples from 15 Chinese rhesus monkeys: 5 drug-naïve controls and 10 monkeys medicated with a 6-month administration of clozapine and haloperidol.

Marilyn S. Huckans, PhD, et al.
Portland VA Medical Center
Portland, OR
Will perform a retrospective review of the medical records of 130 individuals to determine whether interferon-alpha therapy is associated with an improvement in positive and/or negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia being treated for hepatitis C virus.

Rima F. Kaddurah-Daouk, PhD, et al.
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC
Will explore biochemical changes related to lipid metabolism in 60 patients with relapsed schizophrenia using serum that will disclose information about the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in schizophrenia and also provide insights about the metabolic side effects of antipsychotic drugs.

Johannes Schroeder, MD
University of Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Germany
Håkan Karlsson, PhD
Karolinska Institute
Stockholm, Sweden
Will perform a follow-up study to establish the prevalence and course of HERV-related RNA sequences in schizophrenia and to characterize the phenotype of the HERV-W positive patients in terms of treatment response, long-term clinical course, and cerebral changes visible on MRI.

Elisabet Vilella, PhD et al.
Institut de Recerca en Ciencies de la Salut (IRCIS)
Tarragona, Spain
Will perform a follow-up study to investigate the role of the discoidin domain receptor 1 in the process of myelination and myelin sheath maintenance in relation to schizophrenia.

Consuelo Walss-Bass, PhD
University of Texas Health Science Center
San Antonio, Texas
Will perform a proteomic analysis of lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from patients with schizophrenia to examine for disease-associated and antipsychotic drug–induced changes in protein conformation.