The landscape of psychiatric genetics studies in africa: a preliminary survey of african research cohorts

The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) has established an Africa Working Group with the objectives of pursuing funding, developing new policies and ethical frameworks, coordinating recruitment activities and training, facilitating integration of African PGC analysts, and undertaking large-scale analyses of African datasets, while promoting an inclusive clinical translation. In pursuing these objectives, the working group has conducted preliminary reviews and cohort inventories, gathering valuable insights and information to inform and shape future research efforts in Africa. We conducted (a scoping review of published psychiatric genetics research in Africa,) member surveys of the areas of interest of working group members, and an inventory of existing cohorts with a focus on mental health conditions. Our findings encompass the outcomes of the scoping review, member survey, and research database including a working inventory of ongoing research projects under each disorder of interest as well as genomic, population-level and longitudinal cohorts without a mental health focus (which are potential sources data). While there is paucity of published literature on psychiatric genetics in Africa, there is a modest increase in the number of genomic studies on the continent. By building upon the achievements of projects such as H3Africa/H3ABionet and NeuroGAP, and fostering collaborations across health and population data infrastructure, we aspire to contribute to the sustainable and equitable expansion of psychiatric genetics research in Africa.