Large-scale collaborative research will be a hallmark of future psychiatric genetic research. Ideally, both academic and non-academic institutions should be able to participate in such collaborations to allow for the establishment of very large samples in a straightforward manner. Any such endeavor requires an easy-to-implement information technology (IT) framework. Here we present the requirements for a centralized framework and describe how they can be met through a modular IT toolbox.

The German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (DGPPN) has committed itself to establish a prospective national cohort of patients with major psychiatric disorders, the so-called DGPPN-Cohort. This project will enable the scientific exploitation of high-quality data and biomaterial from psychiatric patients for research. It will be set up using harmonised data sets and procedures for sample generation and guided by transparent rules for data access and data sharing regarding the central research database. While the main focus lies on biological research, it will be open to all kinds of scientific investigations, including epidemiological, clinical or health-service research.

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