Brain Health

The Program in Brain Health at the Broad Institute is an intellectual community characterizing the genetic and mechanistic basis of brain health and diseases affecting the human brain. Our goal is to break down silos between areas of brain study and turn emerging biological findings into new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches that could benefit the hundreds of millions of people around the world living with these conditions.

This image shows human neurons (in blue), with the C4 protein (in green) deposited on synapses.

Credit: Heather de Rivera/McCarroll Lab

Broad scientists discovered that mutations in the C4 gene are key drivers in schizophrenia by affecting synaptic pruning. This is the first time a biological mechanism behind the disease has been described. This image shows human neurons (in blue), with the C4 protein (in green) deposited on synapses. The C4 protein tags synapses for pruning by the microglia, the brain’s immune cells; Broad scientists have demonstrated an overactive version of C4 could result in excessive pruning.

Neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, neurodegenerative, and other disorders of the brain — including autism, schizophrenia, bipolar and other mood disorders, anorexia nervosa, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, prion disease, and more — constitute the largest burden of disease around the world, with deep consequences for individuals, families, and societies.

The roots of these disorders have only begun to come into focus within the last decade, thanks to recent breakthroughs in genomics, neurobiology, and technological and computational developments, many of which arose here at the Broad Institute. These new insights have brought about a recognition that these disorders vary greatly and harbor many distinct but also many shared genetic risk factors. Shared biological mechanisms, occurring within the brain and involving brain-body and genes-brain-environment interactions, are also emerging. Effective studies across brain disorders therefore often benefit from similar approaches and technologies.

Thus, there is great promise in studying these conditions using the highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, technology-intensive approach for which the Broad Institute is known.

Working together to understand the biology of brain disorders

The Program in Brain Health at the Broad Institute, guided by Steven Hyman, supports basic and translational brain science initiatives across the institute. The program capitalizes on the institute’s intense commitment to collaboration, data sharing, and interdisciplinary research. The development of computational methods, new technologies, and foundational research in neuroscience creates an environment that bolsters our ability to probe the complex biology of the brain, examine the impacts that whole-body mechanisms and environmental impacts have on brain health, and understand the alterations associated with a variety of brain disorders.

By bringing together efforts such as the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Prions@Broad, the NeuroDevelopmental Variability Initiative, the Center for Human Brain Variation, and individual labs across the Broad interested in biological processes that impact the brain, the Program in Brain Health creates a deep intellectual community that allows for rapid sharing of ideas, resources and technologies. This collaborative environment propels our understanding of brain disorders forward at a velocity that would not otherwise be possible, advancing discoveries across brain disorder-related research programs, which in turn accelerates progress toward new diagnostic and prognostic tools (including biomarkers) and new therapeutic targets and approaches.