GEDMex: Genetics of Eating Disorders in Mexican Populations

The GEDMex study aims to expand knowledge of the genetic and environmental risk factors for eating disorders in Mexico through large-scale sample collection and analysis. This will ensure future scientific advances and therapeutics are applicable to Mexican populations. Additionally, the study seeks to further the field's understanding of the genetics of Mexican populations while enhancing local genetic research capacity through the training of scientists and support for the development of locally-led research programs. This study is a collaboration between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz National Institute of Psychiatry (INPRFM), and the ӳ��ý of MIT and Harvard.

The GEDMex team — comprising researchers, clinicians, project managers, and others at Harvard, the ӳ��ý, INPRFM, and participating institutions — aims to collect and genetically analyze samples from 6,000 people with eating disorders and 3,000 controls by 2026.

Research Focus

The specific objectives of the GEDMex project are:

To expand the knowledge of the genetic architecture of eating disorders in Mexico through large-scale sample collection, analysis, and follow-up, and to analyze environmental risk factors in their development.
To increase the understanding of the genetics of Mexican populations.
To improve the capacity for neuropsychiatric genetic research in Mexico by training scientists and fostering the development of locally managed research programs.

The study is primarily structured around two diagnostic categories, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, grouped under "eating disorders" due to the shared underlying genetic predisposition and spectrum of eating disorder behaviors.

The GEDMex team regularly participates in academic conferences, presenting updates on the study and its findings. Recordings of these presentations and presentation materials can be found below, along with dates of upcoming presentations.

Presentations

Please check back in the future for details on upcoming presentations!

Contact Information

For more information about GEDMex, please contact:

Dr. Karestan Koenen, Principal Investigator, kkoenen@hsph.harvard.edu
Dr. Beatriz Camarena, Principal Investigator, bcamarenam@gmail.com
Rocky Stroud II, Director of Global Research Operations, rstroud@hsph.harvard.edu