Seminar Series

Title: 

Psychiatric Genomics Across Disorders: What’s Working, What’s Next, and What to Watch For

Presenter:

Manuel Mattheisen, MD

Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology &  Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University

Time and Date 

12pm – 1pm 

Thursday, March 12, 2026 

Location 

MS Teams: Join the meeting now

Synopsis: 

The talk will outline our recent work in psychiatric genetics, presenting findings across 14 psychiatric disorders. It will discuss factors that have contributed to recent advances in the field and highlight key considerations—and common pitfalls—in interpreting genetic risk prediction models derived from genome-wide association studies. A global health perspective will be included through examples from studies in South America, East Asia, and Africa, with a focus on ongoing challenges in conducting and translating this work across diverse populations and settings, including issues related to data representation, study design, and the transferability of findings.

Bio:

Dr. Mattheisen received his MD from the University of Bonn and holds joint appointments in the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and the Faculty of Computer Science. He furthermore is Adjunct Professor at the LMU in Germany, and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. As a physician with a strong background in genetic epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics, Dr. Mattheisen's research focuses on translating genetic findings into clinical diagnostics and care in a global mental health setting (with close collaborators in East and South Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe). His lab is dedicated to four main areas of research: identifying genetic risk factors for complex traits through large-scale studies; characterizing genetic predictors of disease onset, course, and treatment response; evaluating patient-oriented factors that impact clinical implementation; and developing and enhancing biostatistical and bioinformatic methods and tools.