The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has announced a $9.8 million, five-year grant to study people suffering a first episode of schizophrenia.

The grant -- to the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. -- is expected to help scientists identify biological, social and genetic factors that predict the disease's onset, course and response to treatment.

Schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, grossly disorganized conduct and profound social and occupational impairment. It affects about one in 100 people, and onset most frequently occurs in late adolescence or early adulthood.

It is very important that we determine how we can best treat patients in the first episode so that they have a better chance of recovery, said John Kane, chairman of psychiatry at Zucker and director of the new center. We have a major opportunity to turn the course of this disease around for millions of patients and their families.

The center will use scans to examine how groups of nerve cells in the brain change in response to treatment. Dr. Anil Malhotra, a co-director of the new center, will oversee genome studies to identify genetic markers that predict who are most likely to benefit from specific medications.

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