King's College London

Research

IMAGEN

Professor Gunter Schumann is the Principal Investigator and Coordinator for a major European Commission-funded project called IMAGEN.

This project’s aim is to identify and characterise specific genetically-influenced alterations in reinforcer sensitivity and executive control which are manifest in adolescence and carry the risk for overt psychopathology later in life. The IMAGEN study is the first multicentre functional and structural genetic-neuroimaging study of a cohort of 2000 +14 year old adolescents. Cognitive, behavioural, clinical and neuroimaging data from the adolescents and their families and teachers will be gathered and the participants followed-up for five years.

IMAGEN started in February 2007 and is already well underway. The overall management of the project is performed by GABO:mi whereas external companies such as SCITO S.A, NordicNeuroLab, PERTIMM and Delosis Ltd are offering their essential services. Teams from Trinity College (Ireland), Central Institute of Mental Health, Charité University, University of Bonn, University of Hamburg (Germany), INSERM, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique, Consortium National de Recherche en Génomique (France) and Cambridge University, University of Sussex,University of Nottingham and the Institute of Psychiatry (England) have been working closely together. The Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College) is the main centre for this study and a number of PhD students, professors, psychiatrists and coordinators are working on this international project together.

The Institute of Psychiatry (King’s College) is the main centre for this study and a number of PhD students, professors, psychiatrists and coordinators are working on this international project.

The people at the IoP working on the study are : Prof. Gunter Schumann, Dr. Anbarasu Lourdusamy, Dr. Patricia Conrod, Dr. Laurence Reed, Mr. Christopher Andrew, Prof. Philip Asherson, Prof. Gareth Barker, Dr. Gerome Breen, Dr. Sylvane Desrivieres, Ms. Catherine Mallik, Dr. Essi Viding, Prof. Steve Williams, Dr. Maren Struve, Ms. Lauren Topper, Dr. Emma Dempster, Ms. Toni-Kim Clarke, Mr. Dave Gasston, and Ms. Kristina Krause.