CHCF News & Highlights
Suicide Research
Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders.
Press Release - July 30th, 2025
CHCF Policy Statement on Redefining Mental Health
https://1drv.ms/b/c/8e19bdbef5aa5850/EUdHC2qwaaxHvvTG_Sdv4GEBbNKKqaV5Ru7SQGYJac0ivQ?e=Z6Hff9
Press Release - July 29, 2025
The CHCF Brain Foundation is pleased to share the results of a recent survey conducted to better understand the root causes of mental health stigma, particularly among younger populations. We are also proud to recognize Marissa Harris, our first summer intern from the 2025 UMBC SNLP program, for her outstanding white paper. Her work provides a clear definition of stigma, identifies the top contributing factors, and explains why stigma remains a major barrier to accessing existing mental health care.
CHCF Brain Survey_ Mental Health and Stigma-2-1.pdf
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2025
CHCF Joins Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s Patient Advisory Board
The CHCF is pleased to announce that we have been selected to join the Patient Advisory Board of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) https://alliancerm.org.
As a member of the ARM Patient Advisory Board, CHCF will actively engage with the broader cell and gene therapy community to advance the shared goals and objectives of the board while furthering CHCF’s mission. Our participation will focus on amplifying the voice of patients and caregivers, strengthening translational science efforts, and advocating for innovative approaches to address serious and life-threatening behavioral conditions.
About CHCF
CHCF (Cory Heidaran Charitable Foundation) is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing education and research that supports the development of objective, unbiased diagnostic tools for the early detection of individuals at high risk for serious mental health and behavioral conditions. By leveraging cutting-edge genetic and epigenetic technologies, CHCF works to identify the root causes of these conditions with the ultimate goal of enabling curative, personalized therapies.
Press Release – May 29, 2025
CHCF Welcomes Summer 2025 Intern Through UMBC’s SNL Program
The CHCF (Cory Heidaran charitable Foundation) is pleased to announce that we have been selected as a host nonprofit organization for the Summer 2025 cohort of the UMBC Public Service Scholars – Sondheim Nonprofit Leadership Program (link).
We are excited to welcome Marissa Harris to the CHCF family as a summer intern. Marissa will be supporting our advocacy and outreach efforts, with a special focus on mental health initiatives. We look forward to her contributions to our mission and are proud to offer her the opportunity to learn and grow within our network of mentors and volunteers.
CHCF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting education and research focused on the development of objective, unbiased diagnostic tools for the early detection of individuals at high risk for serious, life-threatening behavioral conditions. We use the latest genetic and epigenetic technologies to identify the root causes of these conditions, with the ultimate goal of developing curative therapies.
Please join us in welcoming Marissa to our team.
Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322321015705
Pentagon data reveals US soldiers are more likely to die by suicide than in combat:
Pentagon data reveals US soldiers are more likely to die by suicide than in combat:
Our aspirational goal is to develop the first-ever curative therapies for serious and life-threatening mental health conditions using genetics and epigenomics:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7237942571207921665
The primary goal of this act is to expand public-private partnerships significantly to better understand the root causes of brain health conditions associated with life-threatening behaviors (LTBs) through a risk and physical sciences-based approach:
https://forum.policiesforpeople.com/t/brain-health-moonshot-act/8894
Adolescent Brain Development
Adolescence is a time of extraordinary physical, emotional, and intellectual growth. It is also a period of increased vulnerability when risky behaviors emerge as youth attempt to navigate an increasingly complex world. Thanks to recent technological advances, we can now explore, in unprecedented detail, the biological and environmental factors that influence young people’s ability to successfully navigate this protracted and challenging phase in their lives.
Discovery of 3,000 genes implicated in brain development:
https://neurosciencenews.com/asd-genetics-neurodevelopment-psychology-29526/
Exploring the biological and environmental factors that influence young people’s ability to navigate this protracted and challenging phase in their lives:
https://www.addictionresearch.nih.gov/abcd-study
Insight into molecular basis for brain diseases like autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other neuropsychiatric conditions:
https://www.science.org/collections/psychencode2 and https://lnkd.in/e4Xfz-Rf
Multimodal Biomarkers for Central Nervous System Disorders: Development, Validation, and Clinical Integration: Proceedings of a Workshop:
27208-1_NASEM_Multimodal_Biomarker.pdf
CHCF's response to the NIMH request for feedback about gaps in research and priorities submitted to the agency on May 4th, 2023:
CHCF's response to the NIMH request for feedback about gaps in research and priorities submitted to the agency on May 4th, 2023:
Development and qualification of biomarkers for the Central Nervous System, including but not limited to neuron-psychiatry:
Development and qualification of biomarkers for the Central Nervous System, including but not limited to neuron-psychiatry:
Remarkable review paper summarizing how we should approach the diagnosis and treatment of serious mental health diseases in an entirely new way:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166223622002582.
Learn about biomarkers, their utility in diagnosing and predicting brain disorders, and their potential to revolutionize treatment for these conditions:
https://www.cohenveteransbioscience.org/resource/webinar-series/webinar-understanding-biomarkers/
Summarizing the mission, vision, programmatic goals, objectives, and how we plan to achieve our short and long-term objectives in the future:
https://vimeo.com/1018103520/fd40eab1a5?share=copy
PTSD
Suicide is now becoming the number two leading cause of death in children and young adults. Our veterans have close to double the rate of suicide as compared to the general population. The trend is alarming, and existing health programs to prevent brain conditions with serious and life-threatening behavior and suicide are not working.
Scientists identify 95 regions of the genome linked to PTSD:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-024-01707-9
Scientists identify 43 genes associated with PTSD:
https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/scientists-uncover-95-regions-genome-linked-ptsd
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