Data mining of birth cohort and routinely collected health data for stratification of depression at University of Edinburgh on FindAPhD.com

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Prof A McIntosh, Dr T Russ No more applications being accepted Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

About the Project

Summary

Progress in understanding the causes of depression has been very slow, due to its largely unexplained and substantial mechanistic and clinical heterogeneity. Our failure to identify these subtypes means that individuals with markedly different disease mechanisms are all treated equally, and with limited success. Stratifying depression into its subtypes could ultimately lead to personalised and more effective treatment.

Our goal is to build upon an existing study of 21,516 individuals extensively examined for depression and related traits called "Generation Scotland". We will use birth cohort data, routine information collected from NHS records and disease registers to stratify depression by the presence of health status. We will then identify and characterize the specific subtypes of depression using clinical examination, cognitive and personality testing before conducting genetic analyses of their heritability and genome-wide associations.

Relevant website for information about the research group http://www.pst.ed.ac.uk http://www.igmm.ed.ac.uk http://www.ccace.ed.ac.uk

Funding Notes

University of Edinburgh
Wellcome Trust (Strategic Award)

References

Key references:

Leon DA et al. Cohort Profile: The Aberdeen Children of the 1950s Study. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2006;35(3):549-52.

Smith BH et al. Cohort Profile: Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS). The study, its participants and their potential for genetic research on health and illness. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2013;42(3):689-700

Where will I study?

University of Edinburgh

One of the world''s top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50 and placed 20th in the QS World University Rankings 2020. We provide a stimulating working, learning and teaching environment with access to excellent facilities and attract the world''s best, from Nobel Prize winning laureates to future explorers, pioneers and inventors.

Data mining of birth cohort and routinely collected health data for stratification of depression

University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine