Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative
IRAS ID
243566
Contact name
Gerome Breen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Eating Disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are common, affecting ~6% of the population with a substantial burden on healthcare and with considerable unmet medical needs (Ágh et al. 2016; Schaumberg et al. 2017). Scientific evidence indicates a strong genetic component (Duncan et al. 2017; Wade et al. 2013; Boraska et al. 2012; Thornton et al. 2011), and combined with environmental risks, such as maternal nutrition and early developmental stress (Raevuori et al. 2014), the result is a complex interaction of factors that produce EDs. This lack of knowledge has prevented the development of more effective treatments. The overarching aim of this resource is to set up a re-contactable resource on Eating Disorders’ (EDs) to facilitate investigation into the risk factors associated with EDs. Such studies are currently impossible due to lack of available samples.
Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI) will be the world’s first comprehensive resource for eating disorders and will provide: (1) biological samples for studying the genetics (2) psychological and medical data, including neuropsychological, psychiatric conditions and medical comorbidities; and (3) data on family psychiatric and medical history. It will represent a resource of clinical measures linked to biological samples as part of the NIHR BioResource and the NIHR BioResource Centre Maudsley. The resource will enable studies on EDs by providing samples and biological data to the scientific community at minimal costs.
We will recruit 5000 participants with a lifetime occurrence of EDs who will be asked to provide a saliva sample and some additional psychiatric and medical health information. Furthermore, we will obtain consent for re-contacting participants and consent to link research data to medical records. We will also support and update members through regular updates of research progress and links to relevant websites and media.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1254
Date of REC Opinion
29 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion