The Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (abbreviated VIPBG) is a

human genetics Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population gene ...

research center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

, located at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

(VCU), that aims to study the role played by genetic factors in the etiology of

psychiatric condition A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s and substance abuse. It was co-founded in 1996 by VCU psychiatry professors

Kenneth Kendler Kenneth S. Kendler (born July 12, 1950) is an American psychiatrist best known for his pioneering research in psychiatric genetics, particularly the genetic causes of schizophrenia. Kendler is one of the highest cited psychiatry researchers. Be ...

and Lindon Eaves. Kendler serves as the Institute's director and the director of its Psychiatric Genetics Research Program (abbreviated PGRP), while Eaves is the director of the Institute's Genetic Epidemiology Research Group (abbreviated GERG). The PGRP and GERG are subsidiaries of the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, respectively, at the

VCU School of Medicine The Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine is the medical school of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. It is the largest and oldest continuously operatin ...

. The Institute's associate director is Michael Neale. In 2017, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

passed a bill commending Kendler and the VIPBG, describing the latter as "...an exciting, highly collaborative research environment with a strong record of funding, research, and training, including more than 140 predoctoral and postdoctoral students over the past decade".

References

External links

Official WebsiteLaw Of Attraction
Research institutes in Virginia 1996 establishments in Virginia Genetics or genomics research institutions Virginia Commonwealth University Behavioural genetics Medical research institutes in the United States {{Genetics-stub