Professor Peter Visscher
Professor

Peter Visscher

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 344 37045

Background

Visscher joined the University of Queensland in 2011, where he is Professor of Quantitative Genetics. He is a Laureate Fellow of the Australian Research Council. Visscher was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2010, a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2018 and a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.

Visscher’s research is about genetic variation for complex traits (including quantitative traits and disease) in populations, with the broad aim to understand and quantify the causes and consequences of human trait variation.

Prof Peter Visscher, Prof Naomi Wray and Prof Jian Yang together comprise the Executive Team of the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG). PCTG comprises a critical mass of more than 30 post-doctoral researchers plus research assistants and students, all supported by external grant funding. Their skills lie in the ability to develop and apply statistical methods within the framework of quantitative, population and statistical genetics and to use theory to understand and predict results from data analyses. They play leading roles in the international research consortia. The focus of current research activities is in the detection and fine-mapping of loci underlying complex traits (including common disease), based upon theoretical studies and applications of methods to large datasets, in population genetics studies using theoretical approaches and high-density genetic marker data, and in systems genomics studies.

Availability

Professor Peter Visscher is:
Not available for supervision

Fields of research

Clinical sciences Genetics

Qualifications

  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, University of Edinburgh
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh

Research impacts

Visscher's research focuses on understanding individual differences betweeen people in traits that are important for health outcomes and ageing. A better understanding of the genes that underlie variation in risk to diseases may lead to better treatments.

Search Professor Peter Visscher’s works on UQ eSpace

803 works between 1987 and 2025
All (803) Journal Article (737) Book Chapter (3) Conference Publication (63)

401 - 420 of 803 works

2013

Journal Article

DNA evidence for strong genome-wide pleiotropy of cognitive and learning abilities

Trzaskowski, Maciej, Davis, Oliver S. P., DeFries, John C., Yang, Jian, Visscher, Peter M. and Plomin, Robert (2013). DNA evidence for strong genome-wide pleiotropy of cognitive and learning abilities. Behavior Genetics, 43 (4), 267-273. doi: 10.1007/s10519-013-9594-x

DNA evidence for strong genome-wide pleiotropy of cognitive and learning abilities

2013

Journal Article

Insights into foraminiferal influences on microfabrics of microbialites at Highborne Cay, Bahamas

Bernhard, Joan M., Edgcomb, Virginia P., Visscher, Pieter T., McIntyre-Wressnig, Anna, Summons, Roger E., Bouxsein, Mary L., Louis, Leeann and Jeglinski, Marleen (2013). Insights into foraminiferal influences on microfabrics of microbialites at Highborne Cay, Bahamas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 (24), 9830-9834. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1221721110

Insights into foraminiferal influences on microfabrics of microbialites at Highborne Cay, Bahamas

2013

Journal Article

708 common and 2010 rare DISC1 locus variants identified in 1542 subjects: analysis for association with psychiatric disorder and cognitive traits

Thomson, P. A., Parla, J. S., McRae, A. F., Kramer, M., Ramakrushnan, K., Yao, J., Soares, D. C., McCarthy, S., Morris, S. W., Cardone, L., Cass, S., Ghiban, E., Hennah, W., Evans, K. L., Rebolini, D., Millar, J. K., Harris, S. E., Starr, J. M., MacIntyre, J., Generation Scotland, McIntosh, A. M., Watson, J. D., Deary, I. J., Visscher, P. M., Blackwood, D. H., McCombie, W. R. and Porteous, D. J. (2013). 708 common and 2010 rare DISC1 locus variants identified in 1542 subjects: analysis for association with psychiatric disorder and cognitive traits. Molecular Psychiatry, Advance online publication (6), 1-8. doi: 10.1038/mp.2013.68

708 common and 2010 rare DISC1 locus variants identified in 1542 subjects: analysis for association with psychiatric disorder and cognitive traits

2013

Journal Article

Large sample size, wide variant spectrum, and advanced machine-learning technique boost risk prediction for inflammatory bowel disease

Wei, Zhi, Wang, Wei, Bradfield, Jonathan, Li, Jin, Cardinale, Christopher, Frackelton, Edward, Kim, Cecilia, Mentch, Frank, Van Steen, Kristel, Visscher, Peter M., Baldassano, Robert N., Hakonarson, Hakon and International IBD Genetics Consortium (2013). Large sample size, wide variant spectrum, and advanced machine-learning technique boost risk prediction for inflammatory bowel disease. American Journal of Human Genetics, 92 (6), 1008-1012. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.05.002

Large sample size, wide variant spectrum, and advanced machine-learning technique boost risk prediction for inflammatory bowel disease

2013

Journal Article

GWAS of 126,559 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with educational attainment

Rietveld, Cornelius A., Medland, Sarah E., Derringer, Jaime, Yang, Jian, Esko, Tonu, Martin, Nicolas W., Westra, Harm-Jan, Shakhbazov, Konstantin, Abdellaoui, Abdel, Agrawal, Arpana, Albrecht, Eva, Alizadeh, Behrooz Z., Amin, Najaf, Bamard, John, Baumeister, Sebastian E., Benke, Kelly S., Bielak, Lawrence F., Boatman, Jeffrey A., Boyle, Patricia A., Davies, Gail, De Leeuw, Christiaan, Eklund, Niina, Evans, Daniel S., Ferhmann, Rudolf, Fischer, Krista, Gieger, Christian, Gjessing, Hakon K., Haegg, Sara, Harris, Jennifer R. ... Koellinger, Philipp D. (2013). GWAS of 126,559 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with educational attainment. Science, 340 (6139), 1467-1471. doi: 10.1126/science.1235488

GWAS of 126,559 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with educational attainment

2013

Journal Article

Identification of heart rate-associated loci and their effects on cardiac conduction and rhythm disorders

den Hoed, Marcel, Eijgelsheim, Mark, Esko, Tonu, Brundel, Bianca J. J. M., Peal, David S., Evans, David M., Nolte, Ilja M., Segre, Ayellet V., Holm, Hilma, Handsaker, Robert E., Westra, Harm-Jan, Johnson, Toby, Isaacs, Aaron, Yang, Jian, Lundby, Alicia, Zhao, Jing Hua, Kim, Young Jin, Go, Min Jin, Almgren, Peter, Bochud, Murielle, Boucher, Gabrielle, Cornelis, Marilyn C., Gudbjartsson, Daniel, Hadley, David, van der Harst, Pim, Hayward, Caroline, den Heijer, Martin, Igl, Wilmar, Jackson, Anne U. ... Loos, Ruth J. F. (2013). Identification of heart rate-associated loci and their effects on cardiac conduction and rhythm disorders. Nature Genetics, 45 (6), 621-634. doi: 10.1038/ng.2610

Identification of heart rate-associated loci and their effects on cardiac conduction and rhythm disorders

2013

Journal Article

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture

Berndt, Sonja I., Gustafsson, Stefan, Maegi, Reedik, Ganna, Andrea, Wheeler, Eleanor, Feitosa, Mary F., Justice, Anne E., Monda, Keri L., Croteau-Chonka, Damien C., Day, Felix R., Esko, Tonu, Fall, Tove, Ferreira, Teresa, Gentilini, Davide, Jackson, Anne U., Luan, Jian'an, Randall, Joshua C., Vedantam, Sailaja, Willer, Cristen J., Winkler, Thomas W., Wood, Andrew R., Workalemahu, Tsegaselassie, Hu, Yi-Juan, Lee, Sang Hong, Liang, Liming, Lin, Dan-Yu, Min, Josine L., Neale, Benjamin M., Thorleifsson, Gudmar ... Ingelsson, Erik (2013). Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture. Nature Genetics, 45 (5), 501-U69. doi: 10.1038/ng.2606

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture

2013

Journal Article

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia is associated with cognitive change between childhood and old age

McIntosh, Andrew M., Gow, Alan, Luciano, Michelle, Davies, Gail, Liewald, David C., Harris, Sarah E., Corley, Janie, Hall, Jeremy, Starr, John M., Porteous, David J., Tenesa, Albert, Visscher, Peter M. and Deary, Ian J. (2013). Polygenic risk for schizophrenia is associated with cognitive change between childhood and old age. Biological Psychiatry, 73 (10), 938-943. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.01.011

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia is associated with cognitive change between childhood and old age

2013

Journal Article

Correction: Maintenance of variation in human personality: testing evolutionary models by estimating heritability due to common causal variants and investigating the effect of distant inbreeding (vol 66, pg 3238, 2012)

Verweij, K. J. H., Yang, J., Lahti, J., Veijola, J., Hintsanen, M., Pulkki-Raback, L., Heinonen, K., Pouta, A., Pesonen, A. -K., Widen, E., Taanila, A., Isohanni, M., Miettunen, J., Palotie, A., Penke, L., Service, S. K., Heath, A. C., Montgomery, G. W., Raitakari, O., Kaehoenen, M., Viikari, J., Raeikkoenen, K., Eriksson, J. G., Keltikangas-Jaervinen, L., Lehtimaeki, T., Martin, N. G., Jaervelin, M. -R., Visscher, P. M., Keller, M. C. and Zietsch, B. P. (2013). Correction: Maintenance of variation in human personality: testing evolutionary models by estimating heritability due to common causal variants and investigating the effect of distant inbreeding (vol 66, pg 3238, 2012). Evolution, 67 (5), 1537-1537. doi: 10.1111/evo.12095

Correction: Maintenance of variation in human personality: testing evolutionary models by estimating heritability due to common causal variants and investigating the effect of distant inbreeding (vol 66, pg 3238, 2012)

2013

Journal Article

Congruence of additive and non-additive effects on gene expression estimated from pedigree and SNP data

Powell, Joseph E., Henders, Anjali K., McRae, Allan F., Kim, Jinhee, Hemani, Gibran, Martin, Nicholas G., Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T., Gibson, Greg, Montgomery, Grant W. and Visscher, Peter M. (2013). Congruence of additive and non-additive effects on gene expression estimated from pedigree and SNP data. PLoS Genetics, 9 (5) e1003502, e1003502.1-e1003502.10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003502

Congruence of additive and non-additive effects on gene expression estimated from pedigree and SNP data

2013

Journal Article

All SNPs are not created equal: genome-wide association studies reveal a consistent pattern of enrichment among functionally annotated SNPs

Schork, Andrew J., Thompson, Wesley K., Pham, Phillip, Torkamani, Ali, Roddey, J. Cooper, Sullivan, Patrick F., Kelsoe, John R., O'Donovan, Michael C., Furberg, Helena, The Tobacco and Genetics Consortium, The Bipolar Disorder Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, The Schizophrenia Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Schork, Nicholas J., Andreassen, Ole A., Dale, Anders M., McGrath, John J., Mowry, Bryan and Visscher, Peter (2013). All SNPs are not created equal: genome-wide association studies reveal a consistent pattern of enrichment among functionally annotated SNPs. PloS Genetics, 9 (4) e1003449, e1003449. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003449

All SNPs are not created equal: genome-wide association studies reveal a consistent pattern of enrichment among functionally annotated SNPs

2013

Journal Article

Interpreting the role of de novo protein-coding mutations in neuropsychiatric disease

Gratten, Jacob, Visscher, Peter M., Mowry, Bryan J. and Wray, Naomi R. (2013). Interpreting the role of de novo protein-coding mutations in neuropsychiatric disease. Nature Genetics, 45 (3), 234-238. doi: 10.1038/ng.2555

Interpreting the role of de novo protein-coding mutations in neuropsychiatric disease

2013

Journal Article

Causal relationship between obesity and vitamin D status: bi-directional Mendelian randomization analysis of multiple cohorts

Vimaleswaran, Karani S., Berry, Diane J., Lu, Chen, Tikkanen, Emmi, Pilz, Stefan, Hiraki, Linda T., Cooper, Jason D., Dastani, Zari, Li, Rui, Houston, Denise K., Wood, Andrew R., Michaëlsson, Karl, Vandenput, Liesbeth, Zgaga, Lina, Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M., McCarthy, Mark I., Dupuis, Josée, Kaakinen, Marika, Kleber, Marcus E., Jameson, Karen, Arden, Nigel, Raitakari, Olli, Viikari, Jorma, Lohman, Kurt K., Ferrucci, Luigi, Melhus, Håkan, Ingelsson, Erik, Byberg, Liisa, Lind, Lars ... Hirschhorn, J. N. (2013). Causal relationship between obesity and vitamin D status: bi-directional Mendelian randomization analysis of multiple cohorts. PLoS Medicine, 10 (2) e1001383, e1001383. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001383

Causal relationship between obesity and vitamin D status: bi-directional Mendelian randomization analysis of multiple cohorts

2013

Journal Article

Estimation and partitioning of polygenic variation captured by common SNPs for Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and endometriosis

Lee, S. Hong, Harold, Denise, Nyholt, Dale R., ANZGene Consortium, International Endogene Consortium, Genetic and Environmental Risk for Alzheimer’s disease (GERAD1) Consortium, Goddard, Michael E., Zondervan, Krina T., Williams, Julie, Montgomery, Grant W., Wray, Naomi R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2013). Estimation and partitioning of polygenic variation captured by common SNPs for Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and endometriosis. Human Molecular Genetics, 22 (4) dds491, 832-841. doi: 10.1093/hmg/dds491

Estimation and partitioning of polygenic variation captured by common SNPs for Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and endometriosis

2013

Journal Article

Genetic and nongenetic variation revealed for the principal components of human gene expression

Goldinger, Anita, Henders, Anjali K., McRae, Allan F., Martin, Nicholas G., Gibson, Greg, Montgomery, Grant W., Visscher, Peter M. and Powell, Joseph E. (2013). Genetic and nongenetic variation revealed for the principal components of human gene expression. Genetics, 195 (3), 1117-1128. doi: 10.1534/genetics.113.153221

Genetic and nongenetic variation revealed for the principal components of human gene expression

2013

Conference Publication

Are SNPs associated with educational attainment also associated with cognitive function?

Rietveld, Cornelius, Koellinger, Philipp, Benjamin, Daniel, Cesarini, David, Davey-Smith, George, Davies, Gail, Deary, Ian, Johannesson, Magnus, Plomin, Robert, Posthuma, D. and Visscher, Peter (2013). Are SNPs associated with educational attainment also associated with cognitive function?. 43rd Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association, Marseille France, 28 June-02 July 2013. New York, NY United States: Springer New York LLC. doi: 10.1007/s10519-013-9623-9

Are SNPs associated with educational attainment also associated with cognitive function?

2013

Journal Article

Estimation of SNP heritability from dense genotype data

Lee, S. Hong, Yang, Jian, Chen, Guo-Bo, Ripke, Stephan, Stahl, Eli A., Hultman, Christina M., Sklar, Pamela, Visscher, Peter M., Sullivan, Patrick F., Goddard, Michael E. and Wray, Naomi (2013). Estimation of SNP heritability from dense genotype data. American Journal Of Human Genetics, 93 (6), 1151-1155. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.10.015

Estimation of SNP heritability from dense genotype data

2013

Book Chapter

Genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA): methods, data analyses, and interpretations

Yang, J., Lee, (Sang) Hong, Goddard, M. E. and Visscher, Peter (2013). Genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA): methods, data analyses, and interpretations. Genome-Wide Association Studies and Genomic Prediction. (pp. 215-236) edited by Cedric Gondro, Julius van der Werf and Ben Hayes. New York, NY U.S.A.: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-447-0_9

Genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA): methods, data analyses, and interpretations

2013

Journal Article

PHOSPHATE-RELATED ARTIFACTS IN CARBONATE MINERALIZATION EXPERIMENTS

Gallagher, Kimberley L., Braissant, Olivier, Kading, Tristan J., Dupraz, Christophe and Visscher, Pieter T. (2013). PHOSPHATE-RELATED ARTIFACTS IN CARBONATE MINERALIZATION EXPERIMENTS. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 83 (1-2), 39-51. doi: 10.2110/jsr.2013.9

PHOSPHATE-RELATED ARTIFACTS IN CARBONATE MINERALIZATION EXPERIMENTS

2013

Conference Publication

Biological Insights From Genetics Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Contribute To Drug Discovery

Okada, Yukinori, Wu, Di, Terao, Chikashi, Ikari, Katsunori, Kochi, Yuta, Ohmura, Koichiro, Suzuki, Akari, Yamanaka, Hisashi, Denny, Joshua C., Greenberg, Jeffrey D., Graham, Robert R., Brown, Matthew A., Bae, Sang-Cheol, Worthington, Jane, Padyukov, Leonid, Klareskog, Lars, Gregersen, Peter K., Visscher, Peter M., Siminovitch, Katherine A. and Plenge, Robert M. (2013). Biological Insights From Genetics Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Contribute To Drug Discovery. 77th Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology / 48th Annual Meeting of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, San Diego CA, United States, 25-30 October 2013. Hoboken, NJ United States: John Wiley and Sons. doi: 10.1002/art.38216

Biological Insights From Genetics Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Contribute To Drug Discovery

Current funding

  • 2019 - 2025
    Causes and consequence of human trait variation
    ARC Australian Laureate Fellowships
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2022 - 2025
    Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2024
    Estimating the genetic and environmental architecture of psychiatric disorders (NIH Grant administered by the University of Colorado)
    University of Colorado
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2023
    Complex trait genomics
    NHMRC Program Grant
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Genetic analysis of the relationship between parental age and risk of psychiatric disorders
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Phenotypic profiling from DNA using genetic and epigenetic information
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2018
    The genetics of ageing in human populations
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Sporadic ALS Australian Systems Genomics Consortium (SALSA-SGC)
    Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute of Australia Inc
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2020
    Analysis of Genome-Wide Data in the Health and Retirement Study (NIH grant administered by the University of Southern California)
    University of Southern California
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    1/2 A Large-Scale Schizophrenia Association Study in Sweden (NIH grant administered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
    University of North Carolina
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    Increasing the power of GxE detection by using multi-locus genome-wide predictors (NIH grant administered by Harvard Medical School)
    Harvard Medical School
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    NHMRC Research Fellowship: Neurogenetics and Statistical Genomics
    NHMRC Research Fellowship
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Deciphering the genetic code of diseases
    National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Trans-ethnic and trans-omic statistical analyses to identify new ALS risk variants
    Motor Neurone Disease Research Institute of Australia Inc
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2018
    Estimating the Frequencies and Population Specificities of Risk Alleles (NIH grant administered by the University of Colorado)
    University of Colorado
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2016
    CAGE: Consortium for the Architecture of Gene Expression
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2015
    Estimation and partitioning of the still-missing heritability for complex disease
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2016
    Estimation of non-additive genetic variance for complex traits using genome-wide SNP and sequence data
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2016
    Exploiting SNP data in epidemiology and genetics through multivariate analysis of complex traits
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2015
    The genetic architecture and evolution of quantitative traits (ARC Discovery Project administered by the University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2018
    Statistical and Quantitative Genetics (NIH Grant administered by the University of Washington)
    University of Washington (Seattle)
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2017
    Statistical genetic analyses of social and economic outcomes
    Stockholm School of Economics
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2017
    Belgian Medical Genomics Initiative (BeMGI)
    University of Liege
    Open grant
  • 2012
    Explaining the Dark Matter of Genome-wide Association Studies for Complex Disease
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2014
    Better Methods for Individual Risk Prediction of Complex Traits in Human Populations
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2014
    NHMRC Research Fellowship (SPRF)
    NHMRC Research Fellowship
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2017
    Theoretical Population Genetics (NIH Subcontract administered by the University of Washington)
    University of Washington (Seattle)
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2013
    Identifying eQTLs and endophenotyping known CNVs in a large Australian schizophrenia sample
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2012
    Why is most of the genetic variance for complex traits undetected by large powerful screens of common variants? (ARC Discovery Project administered by The University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2009
    Maximising knowledge from dense SNP data using multi-locus analysis
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Peter Visscher is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Statistical methods and application to analyses genome and trait data from large biobanks

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Kathryn Kemper, Professor Loic Yengo

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations in humans

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Naomi Wray, Dr Fleur Garton, Dr Jian Zeng

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Integrating GWAS and molecular QTL data to dissect genetic architecture and improve polygenic prediction

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Jian Zeng

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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