Table 3:

Our top 4 priorities for genetic studies of MD

Priority	Opportunity
Increase the sample sizes available for GWAS of MD, including cases meeting full DSM or ICD criteria for major depressive disorder	Improved knowledge of genetic architecture, more accurate genetic prediction, greater numbers of genetic instruments to discover modifiable environmental factors. Identification of genetic variants contributing to more severe and persistent clinically-defined definitions
Greater inclusion of diverse ancestries and low and middle-income countries	Representative inclusion of global ethnicities and cultures; improved fine-mapping of causal variants; stronger causal inferences based on consistently identified associations in different contexts
Integration with electronic medical records	Ability to examine longitudinal associations with clinical symptoms, treatment response and comorbid physical conditions; enables stratification of depression based on clinical factors; provides a platform for recruitment to clinical trials and observational studies
Developing the neurosciences of polygenic disorders	To identify the intermediate molecular, cellular, and systems biology of MD through simultaneous modelling of many low-penetrance risk alleles