Grant: Operating Grant

The hundreds of thousands of children at high genetic risk of severe mental health problems carry a load of comorbidity and of developmental and behavioural disorders that represent a challenge for paediatricians and child health care practitioners. Yet, we have little knowledge about the childhood determinants of risk of later appearance of serious mental health problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These devastating diseases affect between 1 and 2% of the Canadian population, and appear in late adolescence and young adulthood. In the majority of cases, they have a chronic course since the exact causes in the brain, the genes and the environment are not well known. For this reason, our treatments are palliative, rarely curative. The human and financial costs are enormous. Understanding the developmental trajectory and the early sensitive periods of vulnerability in the life of children and adolescents at risk is of utmost relevance for developing efficient preventive and curative means.