Currently Enrolling Studies

 

Developmental Trajectories of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia (Conte)

  • The purpose of this study is to examine the brain and behavior as it relates to development and genetics in men and women ages 10 – 30 years old. The project will enroll three study groups: individuals with schizophrenia, individuals at clinical risk for developing psychosis, and healthy controls.
    • Principal Investigator: Raquel E. Gur, D, PhD
    • Study Contact: Petra Rupert

Brain-Behavior and Genetic Studies of the 22q11DS

  • This collaborative project with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) aims to examine the chromosome 22q11.2DS, which is associated with a high risk for psychosis. 
    • Principal Investigator: Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD. & Beverly S. Emanuel, MD
    • Study Contact: R. Sean Gallagher

Multi-modal Neuroimaging of Irritability in Youth

  • The main purpose of this study is to understand how brain development during adolescence and young adulthood relates to symptoms of irritability in some people. We hope to better understand how irritability relates to brain development in many types of psychiatric illnesses. We are actively recruiting individuals ages 11-25 with irritability symptoms, as well as healthy controls.
    • Principal Investigator: Theodore D. Satterthwaite, M.D., M.A.
    • Study Contact: Sage Rush

Neurobehavioral Study of Effort (NEFF)

  • This study aims to better understand how the brain functions relating to rewards, motivation, and decision-making development in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, as well as healthy individuals without psychiatric symptoms. This study is actively recruiting individuals ages 18-45.
    • Study Contact: Sheila Shankar
    • Principal Investigator: Daniel H. Wolf, M.D., Ph.D.

National Space Biomedical Research Institute Cognition Study (NSBRI)

  • The purpose of this research study is to collect performance data on a range of cognitive abilities in high-performing healthy adult subjects. You may be eligible if you are between the ages of 25 and 55 years old, have at least a Master's Degree, and are generally healthy.
    • Principal Investigator: Ruben C. Gur, PhD & Mathias Basner, MD, PhD, MSc
    • Study Contact: Kevin Seelaus

Olfactory Evoked Potentials and Developmental Neuropathology in Schizophrenia (OlfDevelopEEG)

  • The objective of this study is to examine olfactory behavioral, electrophysiological and molecular abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia, genetic risk, clinical risk and age-matched healthy control subjects.
    • Principal Investigator: Bruce Turetsky, M.D.
    • Study Contact: Erich Dress

Olfactory Neuroimaging Markers of Heightened Developmental Risk for Schizophrenia (ONM)

  • The objective of this study is to examine brain function and development and how it relates to an individual’s sense of smell.
    • Principal Investigator: Bruce Turetsky, M.D.
    • Study Contact: Erich Dress

The Acting Workshop

  • The purpose of this study is to examine how learning acting skills can build communication and confidence.  Over the course of an 18-week class taught by a professional theater director, participants will join in improvisational games, character work, and writing activities.  This project requires coming to Penn for 20 sessions, which will meet every Tuesday from 5:30 to 8:00PM.
    • Principal Investigators: Ruben C. Gur, PhD. & Paul Grant, PhD.
    • Study Contact: Kevin Seelaus

Brain Tissue Donation Program

  • The purpose of this study is to conduct research of brain anatomy and chemistry in adults ages 18 and older.  Our goal is to delineate brain abnormalities in individuals with neuropsychiatric illness, in comparison to non-neuropsychiatric controls, who have recently died from natural causes, suicide, homicide, or accident.  Decedents’ relatives will be recruited as participants in these studies and requested to give consent to donate brain tissue from decedents for research and to provide clinical information about decedents for diagnostic purposes and correlative analyses.  We plan to utilize three data sources: review of decedents’ medical records, interview with decedents’ family members, and collection of decedents’ brain tissue.
    • Principal Investigators: Ruben C. Gur, PhD. & Paul Grant, PhD.
    • Study Contact: Amy Cassidy

Current Projects in Data Analysis and Publication

Click here to view all projects.


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