The research program on schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders is aiming in the long run at advancing insight in the aetiology and in particular in the interplay between genes and environment, and at improving the treatment prognosis of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Its mission is to innovate and evaluate pharmacological, psychological and psychosocial interventions, and thus to improve and extend the evidence base of effective treatment strategies.

The Schizophrenia Research Program of the Department of Psychiatry UMCG concentrates on i) improving treatment strategies and long term outcome, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, for people with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, with respect to acceptance, tolerability and social functioning, ultimately leading to a better quality of life, ii) on cognition and genetics, next to the psychotic symptoms, as cornerstones of a new framework of tailor-made programs for the treatment ofpsychotic disorders, and iii) on the impact of genetic variance on the variation in the course of the disease and especially on the response to pharmaco-therapy.

The Schizophrenia Research Program is strongly embedded in the Rob Giel Research center (dutch acronym RGOc, see www.rgoc.nl), a collaboration of the three main mental health care organizations and the university department, which has created an infrastructure for health (care) research in the three northern provinces. This infrastructure garantees access to patient populations in the region and forms the basis for many collaborative research projects on schizophrenia and related psychoses, a.o. the RCT’s , the PHAMOUS project on pharmacotherapy and outcome of psychotic disorders ( www.phamous.eu) and the GROUP study (see www.group-project.nl).

Within the UMCG/RuG strong collaboration has been established with three partners: an active alliance with the Neuro Imaging Centre for TMS and fMRI studies, the Unit of Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Department of Epidemiology) participating in our genetic research and the department of Pharmaceutical Care and Pharmacotherapy (RuG).

Contact: UMCG, Hanzeplein 1 – Entrance 24, P.O. Box 30.001, Hospital mail address CC72, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands, T +31(0)50-3612079, F +31(0)50-3619722, E rgoc@med.umcg.nl.