Quantitative genomics of common disorders of the brain

The last five years have seen unprecedented advances in our understanding of the genetics of complex common disorders of the brain. Given the clinical complexity of these disorders, perhaps it is not surprisingly that the empirical data are revealing complex genetic heterogeneity and a genetic architecture of hundreds of genetic variants of small effect. We combine in-house genetic and ‘omic data with publicly available data sets to further understanding of the etiology of disorders of the brain. We use quantitative genetic modelling to add objective evaluation of empirical data – for example, we recently quantified the likely contribution of de novo mutations, to the association between paternal age and psychiatric disorder.

Traineeships, honours and PhD projects include

• Genomics of neurological disorders, particularly motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s disease
• Genomics of psychiatric disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders and major depression
• Quantitative genetic modelling of disease – using theory to understand empirical data