New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome Sharing Repository: methods and sample description

BACKGROUND: Tourette Syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by chronic motor and phonic tics. Affected individuals and their family members are at an increased risk for other neuropsychiatric conditions including obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While there is consistent evidence that genetic factors play a significant etiologic role, no replicable susceptibility alleles have thus far been identified. DESCRIPTION: Here we discuss a sharing resource of clinical and genetic data, the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome Sharing Repository, whose goal is to provide clinical data, DNA, and lymphoblastoid cell lines to qualified researchers. CONCLUSION: Opening access to the data and patient material to the widest possible research community will hasten the identification of causal genetic factors and facilitate better understanding and treatment of this often impairing disorder.