Psychiatric Genomics

We use genomic approaches to understand the mechanisms and causes of psychiatric disorders.

Edinburgh investigators deploy genomic approaches for the study of psychiatric disorders and related traits. This work involves collaboration across psychiatry, psychology, and social sciences as well as longstanding partnerships with the Institute of Genetics and Cancer.

We apply genomic approaches (genetics, epigenetics, metabolomic and other) to understand the mechanisms and modifiable causes of psychiatric disorders with a view to identifying new drug treatments and other interventions. 

This work builds upon UK Biobank, Generation Scotland, Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936, SHARE, Generation Malawi, DepGenAfrica and work with the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and the new UKRI Informatics Hub for Mental Health DATAMIND.

Our work includes a strong public engagement and involvement component, led by Dr Iona Beange our Knowledge Exchange Officer, including ‘My Depression, your depression’ and 'Depression Detectives'.

Example projects

Project titleFunderInvestigator(s) 
Psychiatric Genetics ConsortiumNIHAndrew McIntosh 
Generation Malawi: a study of family, maternal and childhood mental healthUKRIAndrew McIntosh 
Leveraging Routinely Collected And Linked Research Data To Study The Causes And Consequences Of Common Mental DisordersUKRI (Mental Health Data Pathfinder)Andrew McIntosh, Daniel Smith 
Generation ScotlandWellcomeDavid Porteous (Institute of Genetics and Cancer), Andrew McIntosh 
Depression Genetics in AfricaWellcomeAndrew McIntosh 
Airwave Health Monitoring StudyUKRIAndrew McIntosh 
CoMorMent - Predicting comorbid cardiovascular disease in individuals with mental disorder by decoding disease mechanisms (Lead: University of Oslo)EU Horizon EuropeAndrew McIntosh, Sue Fletcher-Watson 
Exploiting Genomic Approaches To Identify The Environmental Basis Of DepressionWellcome (Investigator Award)Andrew McIntosh 
DATAMIND (Lead: Swansea University)MRCAndrew McIntosh, Daniel Smith 
My depression, your depression (Public engagement project)     UKRIAndrew McIntosh, Iona Beange 
Depression Detectives (Public engagement project)WellcomeAndrew McIntosh, Iona Beange 

 

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