CA17130 - Enhancing Psychiatric Genetic Counselling, Testing, and Training in Europe (EnGagE)

The Action Enhancing Psychiatric Genetic Counselling, Testing, and Training in Europe (EnGagE) aims to strengthen pan-European research into the newly emerging disciplines of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling (PsyGC) and Psychiatric Genetic Testing (PsyGT); and to develop a framework to facilitate the implementation of both disciplines into routine clinical care.

Psychiatric disorders are common, with estimated life-time risks of around 1-3 % for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. The last decade has witnessed major advances in psychiatric genetics. Currently, no form of valid, high certainty diagnostic PsyGT is available in routine clinical practice. However, in view of recent genetic findings (particularly the identification of pathogenic copy number variants that are associated with high risks for schizophrenia), major efforts to establish such testing are now underway. The publication of the major advances in psychiatric genetics have received wide media coverage and awareness among patients and their family members of the role of genetics in psychiatric disorders is growing. An increased demand for high-quality information on psychiatric genetics likely provided in the form of PsyGC, is anticipated.

EnGagE is a knowledge-sharing and expertise-enhancing network comprising preclinical and clinical researchers from the fields of neuroscience, psychiatric genetics, psychosocial research, and ethics; clinicians from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and medical genetics; genetic counsellors, and scientists from diagnostic genetic testing laboratories from Europe and beyond. EnGagE will establish a framework for PsyGC and PsyGT; develop standardised guidelines, practice recommendations and research protocols; share scientific knowledge and data and provide standardized training in PsyGC and PsyGT.