“…CHRFAM7A , a human specific fusion gene in high frequency in the population, has been implicated in a broad array of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia with Lewy bodies, Pick disease, and AD; all are human-specific diseases affecting association cortices and higher cognitive function 25 . While CHRN7A has been a promising target for diseases affecting cognition, the effect observed in animal models failed to translate in human clinical trials suggesting a human-specific mechanism 13,14 , we developed a model system to study the modifying effect of CHRFAM7A which (i) has the human biological context, (ii) allows studies in specific cell types, (iii) is a renewable source, and iv) is amenable to scaling. Adapting this iPSC system for high-throughput screening can advance drug discovery in diseases such as AD and schizophrenia and addresses unmet medical needs.…”