Sequence variation underlying human neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases

This is the decade of the ‘brain’ and this is also the decade of advancements in ‘genomic technologies’. This project aims to use cutting edge sequencing technologies to understand susceptibility to human disorders of the brain. The project will use a combination of bioinformatics and statistical tools with molecular biology techniques to investigate how sequence variants, including deleterious mutations, within genes encoding proteins needed for neuronal transmission differ between populations of healthy and non-healthy individuals. Identified risk variants may also be assessed for correlations with phenotypic data such as cognitive performance and biochemical measures. The findings of such studies should improve our understanding of how genetic architecture relates to biological and pathophysiological processes which contribute to expression of disease - a key topic in current academia.