What is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning a condition that is due to differences in in the development and function of the nervous system. People with ADHD have trouble paying attention and controlling their impulses.
ADHD is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood, affecting an estimated 5 to 7 percent of all school-age children. ADHD usually develops before age 7, though sometimes symptoms are not noticeable until a child is somewhat older and encounters more challenging academic and social situations.
Children with ADHD are at particular risk for:
Other behavior disorders, such as oppositional defiant disorder
Adults who had ADHD as children are at much higher risk for a variety of mental health challenges, as well as challenges that may affect important life outcomes such as education, employment, and relationships. For these reasons, early diagnosis and intervention are very important.
Our Research:
Dr. Ryan Doan and colleagues aim to improve the understanding of the genetic underpinning of primary ADHD through the following major goals: 1) Developing the largest family-based repository of children with primary ADHD and their family members using consistent, precise, and comprehensive diagnostic criteria, as well as standardized evaluations of parental and sibling ADHD status. 2) Identify novel candidate genes for ADHD and expand on previous studies that have focused on de novo (spontaneous) genetic mutations, by also examining co-segregation of ADHD and inherited genetic variants, thereby providing the most comprehensive analysis of the genomic architecture of ADHD to date. 3) Validate our gene discovery by assessing genome-wide significance in an existing sample of 5,595 cases and 62,739 healthy controls. 4) Develop a more robust clinical variant classification approach through integrated family histories and functional studies that will increase understanding of the impact of variants of unknown significance and will provide a valuable resource for future genomic and neurobiological functional studies.
