The OCF Genetics Collaborative is a group of genetics investigators from North America, South America, Europe and Africa. The Collaborative, which includes more than 50 members, held its organizational meeting at the OCF Annual Conference in 2002. It has met on an annual basis since that time. David Pauls, Ph.D, Professor, Harvard Medical School, is the chairman of the Collaborative.
The Collaborative was set up to allow those investigators specializing in genetics to collaborate with one another and to share their findings and DNA samples.
The overall goal of the Collaborative is to identify the genetics causes of OCD. The approach that investigators are taking is a systematic screening of the entire genome to identify as the susceptibility genes.
At this point, researchers do not know who will develop OCD and who is protected from it. Learning which genes are involved is very important because this knowledge will lead to a greater understanding of how OCD develops and, ultimately, to finding more effective treatments for OCD.
While no one knows which genes cause OCD or prevents it, investigators in the Collaborative have established from family studies that there is an increased risk OCD in the relatives of individuals with the disorder. The statistical analyses that have been done thus far by members of the Collaborative indicate that a major genetic component is involved in the occurrence of OCD in families. However, no specific OCD genes have been identified.
What our Collaborative members need to move this research along is families who willing to take part in their studies. If you are interested in participating in one of these studies, please call the OCF at (617) 973-5801 and ask for information on genetic studies around the US.
2006 Genetics Collaborative Committee
Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, Stanford, CA
Dr. Andrea Allen, New York, NY
Dr. Paul Arnold, Canada
Dr. Laura Bellodi, Italy
Dr. O. Joseph Bienvenu, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Donald Black, Iowa City, IA
Dr. Danielle Cath, Amsterdam
Dr. Maria Cristina Cavallini, Italy
Dr. Nadia Chabane, France
Dr. P. Michael Conneally, Indianapolis, IN
Dr. Edwin Cook, Chicago, IL
Dr. Bernadette Cullen, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Richard Delorme, France
Dr. Damiaan Denys, Utrecht
Dr. Daniella DiBella, Italy
Dr. Leah Fostick, Israel
Dr. Abby J. Fryer, New York, NY
Dr. Daniel A. Geller, Boston, MA
Dr. Marco A. Grados, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Bejamin Greenberg, Providence, RI
Dr. Wayne Goodman, Gainesville, FL
Dr. Gregory Hanna, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Eric Hollander, New York, NY
Dr. Anna Hounie, Brazil
Dr. David Housman, Cambridge, MA
Dr. James Hudziak, Burlington, VT
Dr. Michael Jenike, Belmont, MA
Dr. Alicia Kaplan, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. James Kennedy, Canada
Dr. James Knowles, New York, NY
Dr. Marion LeBoyer, France
Dr. James Leckman, New Haven, CT
Dr. Kung Lee Liang, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Christine Lochner, South Africa
Dr. Andrea Maques Deak, Rockville, MD
Dr. Brian Martis, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Carol A. Mathews, La Jolla, CA
Dr. Wolfgang Maier, Germany
Dr. Euripedes Miguel, Brazil
Dr. Dennis Murphy, Bethesda, MD
Dr. Tanya Murphy, Gainesville, FL
Dr. Gerald Nestadt, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Humberto Nicolini, Mexico
Dr. Carol Pato, Syracuse, NY
Dr. Michele Pato, Syracuse, NY
Dr. David Pauls, Charestown, MA
Dr. Anthony Pinto, Providence, RI
Dr. Mark H. Rapaport, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Steven Rasmussen, Providence, RI
Dr. Scott Rauch, Charlestown, MA
Dr. Peggy M.A. Richter, Canada
Dr. Mark A. Riddle, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Maria C. Rosario-Campos, Brazil
Dr. David R. Rosenberg, Detroit, MI
Dr. Jack Samuels, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Yehuda Sasson, Israel
Dr. Sanjaya Saxena, San Diego, CA
Dr. Yin Yao Shugart, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Daniel Stein, South Africa
Dr. Evelyn Stewart, Cambridge, MA
Dr. Richard P. Swinson, Canada
Dr. Homero Vallada, Brazil
Dr. Anton Va Balkom, Amsterdam
Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-Vander Wheeler, Chicago, IL
Dr. Michael Wagner, Amsterdam
Dr. Karen Weissbecker, New Orleans, LA
Dr. Herman Westenberg, Utrecht
Dr. Virginia Willour, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Joseph Zohar, Israel