Although every cell in an individual’s body contains the same genome, differences in gene expression and regulatory networks determine distinct cell types and their functions.
The human genome also encodes natural variation that makes each individual unique and shapes how we respond to environmental influences. Understanding how genetic variation interacts with biological context is critical for uncovering mechanisms of disease and variability in drug response.
Group leader
Dr Drew Neavin
Group Leader, Context-Dependent Genetics
Centre for Population & Disease Genomics, IMB
+61 7 3346 2635
d.neavin@uq.edu.au
UQ Experts Profile
Key Breakthroughs and Discoveries
- Developed and applied large-scale “village in a dish” iPSC models to study inter-individual variation across hundreds of donors simultaneously
- Advanced computational tools for multiplexed single-cell demultiplexing and ancestry inference from single-cell data
- Reveal the diversity of single-cell data and its impact on biological findings
Research Projects
STEM PGx: stem cell pharmacogenomic platforms
Adverse drug reactions remain a major barrier to safe and effective therapy, with substantial inter-individual variability in toxicity risk. This project will apply population-scale stem cell-derived cellular platforms to systematically map genetic determinants of drug-induced toxicity. Profiling hundreds of genetically diverse donor lines under defined drug exposures will reveal molecular signatures and genetic variants that predict susceptibility to adverse reactions. These models provide a scalable framework for functional pharmacogenomics and precision drug safety.
Bipolar Genetics: Population-scale brain organoids for bipolar disorder and drug response
Although 70-90% of the chance of developing bipolar disorder is inherited, characterising the molecular mechanisms driving disease development and response to therapies has been challenging. This project uses a large cohort of iPSC-derived brain organoids to investigate how genetic background influences transcriptional programs relevant to disease biology and mood stabiliser response. By integrating single-cell transcriptomics with genomic variation across many individuals, this project aims to identify biomarkers of treatment response and uncover context-dependent regulatory mechanisms in bipolar disorder.
SNAPSHOT: Revealing the impact of biological variables on molecular phenotypes
Genetic effects are shaped by biological context, including ancestry, sex, cellular state, and environmental exposure. This project uses thousands of single-cell samples to study how these variables influence molecular phenotypes such as gene expression and regulatory variation. This project aims to quantify how biological diversity modifies genetic contributes to variability in health and disease.
The Neavin Lab is always looking for talented PhD and honours students interested in understanding genetic regulation across biological contexts. Please contact Drew (d.neavin@uq.edu.au) with expressions of interest.
Collaborators and Partners
We collaborate across computational genomics, stem cell biology, psychiatry, cardiology, and population genetics. Our partners include national and international biobanks, clinical researchers, and biotechnology collaborators focused on scalable functional genomics and pharmacogenomics. We welcome new collaborations that align with our mission to understand context-dependent genetic effects and their impact on health and disease.
Publications
Our Approach
We build experimental systems that capture human genetic diversity at scale.
Villages: We culture hundreds of genetically distinct iPSC lines together in “village-in-a-dish” models, enabling high-throughput functional genomics across diverse individuals in a controlled environment.
Single-cell: We use single-cell genomics to resolve context-dependent genetic effects with cellular precision.
Diversity: Our studies prioritise ancestral and biological diversity, integrating hundreds of stem cell lines across multiple exposures and conditions to systematically study gene–environment interactions.
Our philosophy is to move beyond single-sample models and study genetic regulation across many individuals simultaneously.
Research Areas
- Population genetics
- Functional genomics
- Single-cell genomics
- Pharmacogenomics
- Stem cell biology
- Gene–environment interactions
- Complex disease biology
- Drug response and toxicity
