On October 13, 2016, many of us who worked with the Swedish part of the ANGI study gathered to celebrate achieving our goal of collecting over 4000 blood samples in Sweden from people with anorexia nervosa.

We discussed our experiences with data and sample collection and the exciting analyses ahead. DNA from the blood samples were sent for analysis at the Broad Institute in Boston. In Swedish laboratories, we will also be studying various proteins and metabolites in the blood.

The biological data will then be analyzed together with information on various environmental factors that we know play a major role in why people suffer from eating disorders. Information about the environment is available from the questionnaires that participants completed and from the national registers.

ANGI Deputy Director Dr. Laura Thornton cuts of celebration cake.

Although this is the end of ANGI, we are also planning to study the genetics of other eating disorders like bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. That study is called BEGIN (Binge Eating Genetics Initiative). We will reveal results from ANGI on this website when they are available.

Av: Anders Juréus
Foto: Karolinska Institutet