I joined UniSA in March 2023 from the University of Cambridge, UK, where I was a Senior Research Associate leading the Integrative Genomics team within the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit. I am a functional geneticist interested in translating genetic discoveries into an improved biological understanding of disease, with a primary focus on psychiatric illness and cardiovascular disease. I initially trained as a wet-lab scientist, but have since transitioned into bioinformatic and genetic epidemiological methods.
About me
I joined UniSA in March 2023 from the University of Cambridge, UK, where I was a Senior Research Associate leading the Integrative Genomics team within the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit. I am a functional geneticist interested in translating genetic discoveries into an improved biological understanding of disease, with a primary focus on psychiatric illness and cardiovascular disease. I initially trained as a wet-lab scientist, but have since transitioned into bioinformatic and genetic epidemiological methods.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience King's College London
Masters of Science in Neuroscience King's College London
Graduated Certificate in Education (Higher Education) University of Adelaide
Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours University of Greenwich
05/22-02/23 Senior Post-doctoral Research Associate, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit (CEU), Dept. of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, UK.
02/16-05/22 Post-doctoral Research Associate, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit (CEU), Dept. of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, UK.
01/13-12/15 Lecturer (0.6 FTE) / Postdoctoral Research Associate (0.4 FTE), Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Adelaide, Australia.
10/11-10/12 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK.
I am currently working on several omic-level Mendelian randomization screens to identify potential causal genes, proteins, and metabolites for psychiatric disorders. I am using the findings from these studies to formulate hypotheses and inform the design of subsequent deep-dive studies using a recall-by-genotype design.
Also, in collaboration with Dr. Parul Mittal, Prof. Peter Hoffmann, and Dr. Catherine Toben, I am currently generating pilot mass-spec proteomic data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) purified from healthy volunteers to inform the design of a protein quantitative trait locus study focused on cellular, as opposed to plasma/serum, proteins.
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
2024 UniSA Grant-in-Aid (CI-A): Establishing a nascent recall by genotype cohort resource in South Australia (AU$14,840.00)
2023 UniSA Seed Funding Grant (CI-A): Protein quantitative trait locus mapping of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells: a pilot study (AU$7,000.00).
2015 Royal Adelaide Hospital Project Grant (CI-A): Lithium treatment response in bipolar disorder: functional characterization of a GWAS and a systems biology analysis using next generation RNA-seq technology (AU$50,000.00).
2014 Royal Adelaide Hospital Project Grant (CI-A): Identification of transcriptomic alterations in major depressive disorder cases exhibiting peripheral inflammation using next generation RNA-seq technology (AU$50,000.00).
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
Open access
8
277
|
| 2023 |
Open access
314
294
89
|
| 2022 |
Open access
8
8
10
|
| 2021 |
Open access
33
32
27
|
| 2018 |
Open access
1281
1250
581
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2025 |
Open access
|
| 2025 |
Open access
|
| 2025 |
Open access
1
|
| 2024 |
Open access
2
175
|
| 2024 |
Open access
2
|
| 2024 |
Open access
8
277
|
| 2024 |
Open access
2
2
|
| 2023 |
39
32
10
|
| 2023 |
Open access
314
294
89
|
| 2022 |
8
7
5
|
| 2022 |
Open access
8
8
10
|
| 2022 |
7
6
9
|
| 2021 |
Open access
34
33
10
|
| 2021 |
Open access
33
32
27
|
| 2020 |
Open access
11
11
2
|
| 2019 |
Open access
54
49
18
|
| 2019 |
Open access
67
32
|
| 2018 |
28
27
2
|
| 2018 |
Open access
30
28
4
|
| 2018 |
Open access
248
205
582
|
| 2018 |
Open access
26
21
4
|
| 2018 |
Open access
1281
1250
581
|
| 2018 |
Open access
26
25
5
|
| 2017 |
25
23
11
|
| 2017 |
17
16
11
|
| 2016 |
89
82
2
|
| 2016 |
Open access
15
13
|
Research
I am currently working on several omic-level Mendelian randomization screens to identify potential causal genes, proteins, and metabolites for psychiatric disorders. I am using the findings from these studies to formulate hypotheses and inform the design of subsequent deep-dive studies using a recall-by-genotype design.
Also, in collaboration with Dr. Parul Mittal, Prof. Peter Hoffmann, and Dr. Catherine Toben, I am currently generating pilot mass-spec proteomic data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) purified from healthy volunteers to inform the design of a protein quantitative trait locus study focused on cellular, as opposed to plasma/serum, proteins.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology | SPAIN |
| Cardiff University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Curtin University | AUSTRALIA |
| Dalhousie University | CANADA |
| Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
| Frankfurt Psychoanalytic Institute | GERMANY |
| Harvard University | UNITED STATES |
| Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Informatics in Medicine | GERMANY |
| IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli | ITALY |
| King's College London | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Merck | UNITED STATES |
| Monash University | AUSTRALIA |
| Murdoch University | AUSTRALIA |
| NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Parnassia Psychiatric Institute | NETHERLANDS |
| Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd | AUSTRALIA |
| Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development | UNITED STATES |
| Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital | FRANCE |
| Queen Mary University of London | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Queensland University of Technology | AUSTRALIA |
| Royal Adelaide Hospital | AUSTRALIA |
| Seattle University | UNITED STATES |
| Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen | DENMARK |
| Tampere University | FINLAND |
| Tel Aviv University | ISRAEL |
| University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Bologna | ITALY |
| University of Brescia | ITALY |
| University of Cagliari | ITALY |
| University of California | UNITED STATES |
| University of Cambridge | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of Edinburgh | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of Groningen | NETHERLANDS |
| University of Leicester | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of London | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of Melbourne | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Münster | GERMANY |
| University of New South Wales | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Queensland | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Sydney | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Tartu | ESTONIA |
| University of Western Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| Uppsala University | SWEDEN |
| Utrecht University | NETHERLANDS |
| Washington University in St Louis | UNITED STATES |
| Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar | QATAR |
| Wellcome Sanger Institute | UNITED KINGDOM |
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Alcohol consumption and its health consequences: a large-scale study exploring links with diseases and mortality using data from the UK Biobank. | Current |
| Assessing non-HLA genetic markers in susceptibility to Type I Diabetes and environmental risk factors: A genome-wide association study | Current |
| Exploring the Genetic Association between Cardiometabolic Abnormalities in Clozapine in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia | Current |
| Investigating the shared genetic architecture of the five factor model personality traits and their relationship to psychopathology | Current |
| Unraveling the link between blood proteins biomarkers and the risk of depression: a large-scale data-driven study | Current |
