Thread by @rcpsych

We're approaching the end of a busy #RCPsychIC, but still time for more talks! Session S49 is on 'Clinical applications of new genetic findings'.

The first speaker is Professor James Walters of @cardiffuni talk title 'Psychiatric Genetics: Recent findings and their clinical potential'.

Find out more about Professor Walters' research: cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/12…

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Apologies, first speaker is the session Chair, Professor Louise Gallagher: 'Psychiatric Genetics: Recent findings and their clinical potential'

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JG: Copy number variant (CNV) screening is now common in majority of UK/Ireland paediatric services.

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LG: One issue in this field is the lack of expertise. Consultations can take longer.

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LG: Several benefits to families who have a child with an unexplained disorder. Many parents reported being able to refocus on child's needs after diagnosis.

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LG: "We need to educate parents and clinicians to deal with the tsunami of information that is coming from genomic medicine."

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The next speaker is Professor James Walters of
@cardiffuni

JW: Psychiatric genetics is used as a means to find out more about the disorders we work on.

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JW: Majority of psychiatric disorders have a large heritable component. Environmental factors also important.

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JW: Genomics technologies let us look at single base pair differences (SNPs) to GWAS, through to whole-exome, and whole-genome sequencing approaches.

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JW: GWAS in psychiatry works. Often need many thousands of participants to give studies enough power.

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JW: Rare variants have been implicated in some psychiatric disorders. 10 genes with rare variants have been identified in schizophrenia.

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JW: Schizophrenia-associated copy number variations confer risks to a range of neurodevelopmental disorders.

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The next speaker is Professor Jehannine Austin (@J9_Austin). Their talk title is 'An evidence-based approach to applying psychiatric genetics findings to improve patient outcomes.'

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JA: Genetic counselling is not the same as genetic testing.

It's important to help understand the genetic contributions to any condition. Can help stop parents blaming themselves and feeling guilty.

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JA: Genetic counselling can help people understand that we can inherit a vulnerability to psychiatric illness. It's not just genes, but genetic and environmental factors working together.

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JA: Everyone has some genetic vulnerability to mental illness.

Sleep, nutrition, exercise are good examples of 'protective factors' that can help recover from episodes of mental illness.

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JA: Big challenge in getting people to understand polygenic risk score data.

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Professor Jehannine Austin (@J9_Austin) summarises her talk.

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