THE DSM SUBCOMMITTEE ON CANDIDATE BIOMARKERS AND BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

Psychiatry remains one of the few medical fields where clinical practice relies almost entirely on interviews and historical information rather than laboratory tests or imaging to guide diagnosis, predict outcomes, select treatments, and anticipate response. Despite decades of research advancing our understanding of brain biology across DSM categories, these insights have yet to be fully integrated into clinical care. A key challenge for future iterations of the DSM is to incorporate biological knowledge in a way that reflects both its current breadth and inherent limitations, while establishing a framework for ongoing evolution. In this session, we will review the work of the DSM subcommittee on candidate biomarkers and biological factors and invite an interactive discussion to gather input and raise awareness on this critical topic.

References

Abi-Dargham A, Horga G. The search for imaging biomarkers in psychiatric disorders. Nat Med. 2016 Nov; 22(11):1248-1255. Abi-Dargham A, Moeller SJ, Ali F, DeLorenzo C, Domschke K, Horga G, Jutla A, Kotov R, Paulus MP, Rubio JM, Sanacora G, Veenstra-VanderWeele J, Krystal JH. Candidate biomarkers in psychiatric disorders: state of the field. World Psychiatry. 2023 Jun;22(2):236262. PMID: 37159365. 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Regulatory Challenges: Ask the Experts