About our Unit

The Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit (PNGU) was founded in 2001 for the purpose of enhancing the application of genomics to the study of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental diseases. The research unit is part of Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Human Genetic Research and Department of Psychiatry and is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

The facility is located in the Richard B. Simches Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Research studies are conducted in collaboration with clinicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute of MIT, and many centers worldwide.

The PNGU is directed by Dr. David Pauls, a geneticist whose research over the last 30 years has focused on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition to Tourette Syndrome (TS), Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), he also researches autism and related disorders, and specific reading disability (dyslexia).

Projects are supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA).