Faraone Lab
Ongoing Research
The Faraone lab researches the genetic and molecular pathways associated with ADHD and various neurodevelopmental disorders, including improving diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Because ADHD is also linked with aggressive behavior, substance use disorders, and mood/anxiety disorders, the Faraone lab seeks to identify genes and genetic risk factors related to these diagnoses using machine-learning techniques, genome-wide association studies, and through international collaborations.
Prof. Faraone studies the nature and causes of mental disorders in childhood and has ongoing research in psychiatric genetics, psychopharmacology, with a current focus on applications of data driven computational models (DDCMs) including classical machine learning and deep learning. His ongoing DDCM projects are: 1) predict neuro-developmental disorders and test hypotheses about brain differences in the disorders; 2) predict disorders from genome-wide association data and to test hypotheses about epistasis from such data; 3) predict comorbid psychiatric and somatic conditions among patients with ADHD and 4) to predict response to medications that treat ADHD. He also has a research program to create and disseminate quality measures for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in adults.
Education Programs about ADHD
- www.adhdevidence.org - Despite decades of research, the media and Internet continue to circulate myths, fallacies, and blatant lies about ADHD. This information War on ADHD stigmatizes affected people, reduces the credibility of providers, and delays or prevents access to treatment. In recent years, these problems have worsened with the ascendancy of "fake news" and "alternative facts" in political life.
- www.adhdinadults.com - ADHD in Adults is a legitimate diagnosis. It begins in childhood typically by the teenage years, and two-thirds of ADHD children grow into ADHD adults. ADHD is very typically accompanied by other conditions such as anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, sleep problems, and a number of other diagnoses
HealthLink on Air Interviews
- 11/13/14 Expert Advice: What to do if you think your child has ADHD
- 8/13/14 Understanding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- 5/21/21 An overview of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with an international expert from Upstate
- 3/7/18 When Adults Have ADHD
- 2/25/19 International research shows at least a dozen genetic variants increase the risk of ADHD
- 11/13/14 ADHD research
- 12/10/15 Early medication seen as key to ADHD treatment.
Projects
Dr. Faraone is participating in the following projects:
- SPN-812 Data Mining Analyses For Adult ADHD Data Set (This project involves the development of manuscripts based on data collected from SPN812 clinical trials regarding the effect of SPN812 on executive functioning).
- Profiling the Functional Genetics of Health and Disease using BrainGENIE: The brain Gene Expression and Network Imputation (This project analyze human brain tissue with the Brian Gene Expression and Network Imputation Engine - BrainGENIE - that uses peripheral-blood transcriptomes to predict brain-tissue-specific-gene-expression levels).
- Discoveries in ADHD Genomics: Help or hype in clinical settings? (This study expands and analyze a large outpatient youth cohort in conjunction with data from adults in the Partners Healthcare Biobank. It aims to extend the scientific foundation for evaluating the potential for polygenic risk scores for ADHD and other neuropsychiatric conditions).
- Child and Adolescent ADHD Dissemination Website (This project's goal is to disseminate CME's for PCD's and educate the public about ADHD across the lifespan).
- Polygenic and Environmental Contributions to ADHD Trajectory and Outcomes from Childhood through Adolescence (The goal of this project is to identify secondary data analysis across replicated longitudinal samples, map the influences of selected family, environment,and genetic risk measures on the course of psychopathology).
- Web-based Continuing Medical Education Program about using Rating Scales in Clinical Practice (The goal of this project is to disseminate CME's for PCP's and educate the public about Treating ADHD with Non-Stimulant Medications).