Welcome to the 21st WCP Virtual Congress Program Scheduling

This symposium will highlight an international collaboration for the study of severe, disabling mental disorders in a special population of Colombia (“paisa” population). This is a close collaboration of investigators at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia with investigators from Academic Institutions in the United States (University of California, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University). Our current research is examining the clinical presentation as well as environmental and genetic factors among individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe major depression compared to those from a control group in individuals from the “paisa” population. Research evaluations include structured diagnostic interviews, specific cognitive testing and genetic studies. In this symposium, we will report on the history of this successful collaboration and present preliminary data from our ongoing research studies including aspects of the clinical phenomenology, including cognitive impairment across the various disorders. Also, we will describe new initiatives incorporating innovative methodologies (EMR analyses) for the study of very large samples of patients and controls that will inform future genetic research.