Kenya Psychosis-Risk Outcomes Study (KePROS): Development of an Accelerated Medicine Partnership Schizophrenia-Aligned Project in Africa

Abstract

Background and Hypothesis The Accelerating Medicines Partnership Schizophrenia (AMP SCZ) funds a longitudinal study of 43 research sites across 5 continents to develop tools to stratify developmental trajectories of youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and identify homogenous targets for future clinical trials. However, there are no sites in Africa, leaving a critical gap in our knowledge of clinical and biological outcomes among CHR individuals. Study Design We describe the development of the Kenya Psychosis-Risk Outcomes Study (KePROS), a five-year NIH-funded project in Kenya designed to harmonize with AMP SCZ. The study will recruit over 100 CHR and 50 healthy participants and conduct multiple clinical and biomarker assessments over two years. Capacity building is a key component of the study, including the construction of an EEG laboratory and the upgrading of a local 3T MRI machine. We detail community recruitment, study methodologies and protocols, and unique challenges with this pioneering research in Africa. Study Results This paper is descriptive only. Planned future analyses will investigate possible predictors of clinical outcomes and will be compared to results from other global populations. Conclusions KePROS will provide the research community with a rich longitudinal clinical and biomarker dataset from an African country in the developing Global South, which can be used alongside AMP SCZ data to delineate CHR outcome groups for future treatment development. Training in mental health assessment and investment in cutting-edge biomarker assessment and other technologies is needed to facilitate the inclusion of African countries in large-scale research consortia.