A Global Prospective Harmonization Framework for Suicidality, Anhedonia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Psychiatric Genetic Studies: A Cross-Continental Study Within the Ancestral Population Network

Ana M Diaz-Zuluaga; Jacey L Anderberg; Ana M Ramirez-Diaz; Andrea Horvath Marques; Catherine E Rast; Daniel Bustamante; Deborah Jonker; Johanna Valencia-Echeverry; Joseph Kyebuzibwa; Josselyn S Muñoz; Kristien van der Walt; Mauricio Castaño Ramirez; Olivia Wootton; Renee M Frederick; Rocky E Stroud 2nd; Ruben Gur; Sang Jin Rhee; Shaili C Jha; Stella Gichuru; Susan Service; Victor I Reus; Akena Dickens; Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo; Carrie E Bearden; Dan J Stein; Ezra S Susser; James J Crowley; Jonathan Flint; Kenneth S Kendler; Lukoye Atwoli; Michele T Pato; Nelson B Freimer; Roel A Ophoff; Yong Min Ahn; Loes Olde Loohuis; Eric A Storch; Bizu Gelaye

doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.70019

A Global Prospective Harmonization Framework for Suicidality, Anhedonia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Psychiatric Genetic Studies: A Cross-Continental Study Within the Ancestral Population Network

Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2026 Sep;201(6):379-395. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.70019. Epub 2026 May 11.

Authors

Ana M Diaz-Zuluaga¹, Jacey L Anderberg^{2

3}, Ana M Ramirez-Diaz¹, Andrea Horvath Marques⁴, Catherine E Rast^{2

5}, Daniel Bustamante^{6

7}, Deborah Jonker⁸, Johanna Valencia-Echeverry⁹, Joseph Kyebuzibwa¹⁰, Josselyn S Muñoz^{2

11}, Kristien van der Walt⁸, Mauricio Castaño Ramirez¹², Olivia Wootton¹³, Renee M Frederick^{2

14}, Rocky E Stroud 2nd^{6

7}, Ruben Gur¹⁵, Sang Jin Rhee¹⁶, Shaili C Jha^{6

7}, Stella Gichuru¹⁷, Susan Service¹, Victor I Reus¹⁸, Akena Dickens¹⁰, Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo¹⁹, Carrie E Bearden^{1

20}, Dan J Stein²¹, Ezra S Susser^{22

23}, James J Crowley²⁴, Jonathan Flint²⁵, Kenneth S Kendler²⁶, Lukoye Atwoli^{17

27

28}, Michele T Pato²⁹, Nelson B Freimer¹, Roel A Ophoff¹, Yong Min Ahn³⁰, Loes Olde Loohuis^{1

25

31}, Eric A Storch², Bizu Gelaye^{6

32}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
⁴ Office of Clinical Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁷ Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁹ Research Group in Psychiatry GIPSI, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
¹⁰ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
¹¹ John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA.
¹² Department of Mental Health and Human Behavior, University of Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹⁷ Department of Medicine, Medical College East Africa, The Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁸ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
²⁰ Department of Psychology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
²¹ SAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²² Department of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
²³ Departments of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA.
²⁴ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
²⁵ Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
²⁶ Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics and Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
²⁷ Brain and Mind Institute, The Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Kenya.
²⁸ Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, School of Medicine, Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret, Kenya.
²⁹ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
³⁰ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital; Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³¹ Department of Computational Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³² Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

PMID: 42109083
DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.70019

Abstract

This study aims to prospectively collect harmonized, quantitative, and dimensional psychiatric phenotypes (suicidality, anhedonia, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms) and information on discrimination, stigma, and unfair treatment in up to 27,500 individuals across diverse ancestries and clinical populations for genetic analysis within the NIMH Ancestral Population Network (APN). Five APN projects are participating in the current study (PUMAS-Paisa, PUMAS-NeuroGAP, KOMOGEN-D, LATINO, and SAX-II), spanning recruitment over 15 countries across the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Participants are being enrolled via the recruitment protocols specific to each participating project. The harmonized clinical battery includes the Columbia-Suicide Severity Scale, Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale, and Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-II to assess suicidality, anhedonia, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, respectively. Additionally, we use the Discrimination and Stigma Scale-Ultra Short to evaluate discrimination and stigma across cultures. This project is a pioneering effort to prospectively assess transdiagnostic phenotypes in large-scale, diverse ancestral and clinical populations (across different diagnoses) using a harmonized clinical battery, advancing genetic research in mental health in underrepresented populations.

Keywords: ancestral populations; dimensional phenotypes; phenotype harmonization; psychiatric genetics.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anhedonia* / physiology
Female
Humans
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / genetics
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / psychology
Phenotype
Prospective Studies
Suicide* / psychology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding