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“Nearly 50 per cent of patients treated at Danish psychiatric hospitals have more than one psychiatric diagnosis. People diagnosed with a severe mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression have a higher risk of early-adulthood onset of physical illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, hypertensive disorders and diabetes than the general population. My goal is to conduct a comprehensive study of genetic and environmental factors to account for that comorbidity, which is also observed in many other countries,” says Katherine Musliner.

Katherine Musliner, 40, is a PhD fellow in psychiatric epidemiology, associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine,  Aarhus University (AU), and researcher at the Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital. She is one of the five especially talented early-career researchers to receive the 2024 Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship worth a total of DKK 10 million (EUR 1.3). The fellowship grant, which will be disbursed over the next five years, enables Musliner to set up her own research team at AU.

Medical science is unable to fully account for why comorbidity – the presence of more than one illness in the same individual – is statistically higher among people with mental illness. The statistics also show that the life expectancy of people with severe mental illness is 10-19 years shorter than in the general population in Denmark, but the interaction of genetics and environmental factors to account for this have by no means been fully mapped. But that interaction is essentially what Musliner’s research team will be addressing, she explains:

“While the causes of mental health disorders like schizophrenia and severe depression are largely unknown, we do know that genetic risk factors play a role. The majority of genetics studies in this field to date have focused on a single psychiatric disorder, but this type of study does not take into account of the complex network of comorbidity in the real world of mental illness. With that in mind, we will be taking a different approach by seeking explanations for mental illness comorbidity."

The studies to be conducted by Musliner’s team are based on analyses of large volumes of anonymised data from patients with a number of different mental disorders. The data stem from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register and from the iPsych project, the last of which investigates genetic factors behind autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. The studies will also use data from a number of Danish public registries covering familial and socioeconomic factors.

“In this way, I hope that we will be able to shed more light on a number of questions concerning prevention,” says Musliner, adding:

“For example, it would be very helpful to know from early-stage screening if someone diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder is at higher risk of cardiovascular disease or a hypertensive disorder, as these comorbidities may be preventable with early intervention.”