The Department of Psychiatry’s Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is conducting studies in genetics, brain structure, and biochemistry to search for early biological markers of bipolar disorder. These markers are physiological changes or traits that provide evidence of the illness that can be detected even before symptoms appear in at-risk children. Early intervention can greatly reduce the symptoms that occur, and it can head off other disorders, such as substance abuse, that often develop in untreated individuals. The UIC researchers are examining medication and gene therapy as preventive treatments for children who are at risk for developing the illness.