The Translational Neurogenomics Laboratory investigates the role of genetic factors in a range of psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia, addiction, anxiety disorders and compulsive disorders. By researching a wide variety of symptoms that are typical of patients with a particular psychiatric condition, the members of this group use newly developed statistical methods to discover associations between the condition and genetic variants.
To fully identify and understand the biological processes that result in a psychiatric condition, the lab:
- studies genetic variation
- identifies differences in gene expression levels observed in brain and non-brain tissues
- identifies the impact of disease-associated genes on genetic expression levels
Translational Neurogenomics refers to two topics that are equally important in the study of psychiatric disorders:
- The translation of genetic code to RNA and proteins
- The translation of research findings to the clinic (from bench to bed)
Staff
Group Leader: Professor Eske Derks
- Zachary Gerring, PhD Student
- Inga Schwabe, Visiting Student
- Andries Marees, PhD Student
- Angela Sunley, Honours Student
Publications
Spanagel, R., Durstewitz, D., Hansson, A., Heinz, A., Kiefer, F., Kohr, G., Matthaus, F., Nothen, M. M., Noori, H. R., Obermayer, K., Rietschel, M., Schloss, P., Scholz, H., Schumann, G., Smolka, M., Sommer, W., Vengeliene, V., Walter, H., Wurst, W., Zimmermann, U. S., Stringer, S., Smits, Y. & Derks, EM (2013). A systems medicine research approach for studying alcohol addiction. Addiction Biology, 18, 883-896 (5.93).
Stringer, S., Minica, C. C., Verweij, K. J., Mbarek, H., Bernard, M., Derringer, J., . . ., Derks, E.M.* Vink, J. M.* (2016). Genome-wide association study of lifetime cannabis use based on a large meta-analytic sample of 32 330 subjects from the International Cannabis Consortium. Transl Psychiatry, 6, e769.
Stringer, S., Kahn, R. S., de Witte, L. D., Ophoff, R. A., & Derks, E. M. (2014). Genetic liability for schizophrenia predicts risk of immune disorders. Schizophr.Res., 159, 347-352.
Derks EM, Allardyce J, Boks MP, Vermunt JK, Hijman R, Ophoff RA, and GROUP investigators (2012). Kraepelin was right: a latent class analysis of symptom dimensions in patients and controls. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38, 495-505 (8.61). (27 citations)
Derks EM, Fleischhacker WW, Boter H, Peuskens J, Kahn RS for the EUFEST study group (2010). Antipsychotic drug treatment in first-episode psychosis: Should patients be switched to a different antipsychotic drug after two, four, or six weeks of non-response? Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 30(2),176-180
Student Projects
- What causes overlap between mental health disorders?
- What makes one at risk for having a mental health disorder? Investigating the regulatory role of genetic variants
If you wish to apply for QIMR Berghofer's student program,
click here for more information.
