Christopher Ching

Dr. Ching is an Assistant Professor at The Imaging Genetics Center, part of the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, where his research focuses on neuroimaging and genomic markers of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. As a core organizing member of the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis Consortium (ENIGMA), he designs and implements standardized processing and analysis techniques for large-scale, international neuroimaging studies for a wide range of brain conditions. He leads the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder Working Group, an effort including >200 researchers from around the world pooling data and resources to improve our understanding of the biological processes driving bipolar disorder. In complementary work, he studies rare copy number variants like 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome to understand how certain rare genetic mutations can lead to increased risk for developing psychiatric illness. Finally, he leads several large-scale transdiagnostic neuroimaging and genomic initiatives mapping the common and distinct brain and clinical factors across a range of serious mental illnesses.

• USC: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease NIAT32AG058507, 2019
   – 2021
• UCLA: Neurobehavioral Genetics Predoctoral Fellowship, NIH/NIMH 5T32MH073526, 2015
   – 2016
• UCLA: Neuroimaging Training Program, National Institutes of Health, R90 DA022768 and T90 DA023422, 2012
   – 2013
• UCLA: National Science Foundation Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Grant, 2012
   – 2012

• UCLA — PhD — Neuroscience
• Pomona College — BA — Neuroscience/Philosophy

• Neuroscience
• Neuoroimaging
• Psychiatric Disorders
• Genetics
• Neurodegenerative Disease

• Our new project to map brain altearations across bipolar diosrder and major depression
• Our work studying treatment effects in bipolar disorder
• Our work modeling how the brain changes over time in bipolar disorder

• Thompson, Paul
• Toga, Arthur
• Jahanshad, Neda
• Peterson, Bradley
• Aisen, Paul
• Wang, Danny