Columbia University Launches Center for Precision Psychiatry, Mental Health

This week, Columbia University established the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health, which aims to catalyze precision medicine to support the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various mental illnesses.  

The center was launched via a $75 million grant from the SNF as part of the organization’s Global Health Initiative (GHI) and represents a joint effort by the Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, alongside the university’s Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. 

The press release also indicates that the SNF Center will benefit from expertise from the New York Genome Center and the New York State Office of Mental Health, both of which are affiliated with the university. 

“The insights provided by genomics and precision medicine are proving of tremendous value in improving people’s health and lives,” said Columbia University president Lee C. Bollinger, in the press release. “Through this new center, our researchers will meet an urgent human need by harnessing precision medicine to promote mental health for all. We are enormously grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for joining with Columbia in meeting this profound scientific and humanitarian challenge.” 

The center’s work aims to combat the stigma and discrimination associated with mental healthcare while reducing the societal and individual toll of mental illness through research in neuroscience, psychiatric genomics, stem cell biology, and artificial intelligence, according to the press release.  

“Many existing treatments in psychiatry do not get at root causes,” explained Katrina Armstrong, MD, chief executive officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “We welcome this opportunity to develop new approaches that focus on disease mechanisms and target treatment based on an individual’s unique genetic makeup and biology for the ultimate benefit of lifting up care for the community at large.” 

One of the major projects being conducted at the SNF Center is a collaborative effort with the New York Genome Center (NYGC), known as the Genomic Medicine for Mental Health Advancement (GeMMA) initiative. The press release indicates that GeMMA will help researchers establish causal relationships between brain function and genetic variation, which may help develop new prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options. 

Other institutions are also launching hubs for precision medicine research. 

Earlier this month, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) shared the grand opening of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM), the culmination of a decade-long collaboration forged to tackle cancer, Alzheimer's, and infectious diseases. 

The CEPM will serve as a mixed-use sciences hub for researchers to advance point-of-care and point-of-use devices and diagnostic tools for stem cell applications, cellular engineering, drug development, and computational neurobiology.