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)

181 - 200 of 803 works

2018

Journal Article

Leveraging GWAS for complex traits to detect signatures of natural selection in humans

Guo, Jing, Yang, Jian and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Leveraging GWAS for complex traits to detect signatures of natural selection in humans. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 53, 9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2018.05.012

Leveraging GWAS for complex traits to detect signatures of natural selection in humans

2018

Journal Article

Genome-wide interaction study of a proxy for stress-sensitivity and its prediction of major depressive disorder

Arnau-Soler, Aleix, Adams, Mark J., Hayward, Caroline, Thomson, Pippa A., Porteous, David, Campbell, Archie, Smith, Blair H., Black, Corri, Padmanabhan, Sandosh, McIntosh, Andrew, Wray, Naomi R., Ripke, Stephan, Mattheisen, Manuel, Trzaskowski, Maciej, Byrne, Enda M., Abdellaoui, Abdel, Agerbo, Esben, Air, Tracy M., Andlauer, Till F.M., Bacanu, Silviu-Alin, Bækvad-Hansen, Marie, Beekman, Aartjan T.F., Bigdeli, Tim B., Binder, Elisabeth B., Blackwood, Douglas H.R., Bryois, Julien, Buttenschøn, Henriette N., Bybjerg-Grauholm, Jonas, Cai, Na ... Sullivan, Patrick F. (2018). Genome-wide interaction study of a proxy for stress-sensitivity and its prediction of major depressive disorder. PLoS ONE, 13 (12) e0209160, e0209160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209160

Genome-wide interaction study of a proxy for stress-sensitivity and its prediction of major depressive disorder

2018

Journal Article

Imprint of assortative mating on the human genome

Yengo, Loic, Robinson, Matthew R., Keller, Matthew C., Kemper, Kathryn E., Yang, Yuanhao, Trzaskowski, Maciej, Gratten, Jacob, Turley, Patrick, Cesarini, David, Benjamin, Daniel J., Wray, Naomi R., Goddard, Michael E., Yang, Jian and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Imprint of assortative mating on the human genome. Nature Human Behaviour, 2 (12), 948-954. doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0476-3

Imprint of assortative mating on the human genome

2018

Journal Article

Erratum: Author Correction: Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness (Nature communications (2018) 9 1 (2537))

Yap, Chloe X., Sidorenko, Julia, Marioni, Riccardo E., Yengo, Loic, Wray, Naomi R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Erratum: Author Correction: Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness (Nature communications (2018) 9 1 (2537)). Nature communications, 9 (1) 4953, 4953. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07400-w

Erratum: Author Correction: Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness (Nature communications (2018) 9 1 (2537))

2018

Journal Article

Disentangling the drivers of functional complexity at the metagenomic level in Shark Bay microbial mat microbiomes

Wong, Hon Lun, White, Richard Allen, Visscher, Pieter T., Charlesworth, James C., Vazquez-Campos, Xabier and Burns, Brendan P. (2018). Disentangling the drivers of functional complexity at the metagenomic level in Shark Bay microbial mat microbiomes. Isme Journal, 12 (11), 2619-2639. doi: 10.1038/s41396-018-0208-8

Disentangling the drivers of functional complexity at the metagenomic level in Shark Bay microbial mat microbiomes

2018

Journal Article

Epigenetic signatures of starting and stopping smoking

McCartney, Daniel L., Stevenson, Anna J., Hillary, Robert F., Walker, Rosie M., Bermingham, Mairead L., Morris, Stewart W., Clarke, Toni-Kim, Campbell, Archie, Murray, Alison D., Whalley, Heather C., Porteous, David J., Visscher, Peter M., McIntosh, Andrew M., Evans, Kathryn L., Deary, Ian J. and Marioni, Riccardo E. (2018). Epigenetic signatures of starting and stopping smoking. EBioMedicine, 37, 214-220. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.10.051

Epigenetic signatures of starting and stopping smoking

2018

Journal Article

Genotype effects contribute to variation in longitudinal methylome patterns in older people

Zhang, Qian, Marioni, Riccardo E., Robinson, Matthew R., Higham, Jon, Sproul, Duncan, Wray, Naomi R., Deary, Ian J., McRae, Allan F. and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Genotype effects contribute to variation in longitudinal methylome patterns in older people. Genome Medicine, 10 (1) 75, 75. doi: 10.1186/s13073-018-0585-7

Genotype effects contribute to variation in longitudinal methylome patterns in older people

2018

Journal Article

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for height and body mass index in ∼700000 individuals of European ancestry

Yengo, Loic, Sidorenko, Julia, Kemper, Kathryn E., Zheng, Zhili, Wood, Andrew R., Weedon, Michael N., Frayling, Timothy M., Hirschhorn, Joel, Yang, Jian and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for height and body mass index in ∼700000 individuals of European ancestry. Human Molecular Genetics, 27 (20), 3641-3649. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddy271

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for height and body mass index in ∼700000 individuals of European ancestry

2018

Journal Article

Applying polygenic risk scoring for psychiatric disorders to a large family with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder

de Jong, Simone, Abdalla Diniz, Mateus Jose, Saloma, Andiara, Gadelha, Ary, Santoro, Marcos L., Ota, Vanessa K., Noto, Cristiano, Curtis, Charlesg, Newhouse, Stephen J., Patel, Hamel, Hall, Lynsey S., O'Reilly, Paul F., Belangero, Sintia, Bressan, Rodrigo A., Breen, Gerome, Wray, Naomi R., Ripke, Stephan, Mattheisen, Manuel, Trzaskowski, Maciej, Byrne, Enda M., Abdellaoui, Abdel, Adams, Mark J., Agerbo, Esben, Air, Tracy M., Andlauer, Till F. M., Bacanu, Silviu-Alin, Baekvad-Hansen, Marie, Beekman, Aartjan T. F., Bigdeli, Tim B. ... Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder Working Groups of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2018). Applying polygenic risk scoring for psychiatric disorders to a large family with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. Communications Biology, 1 (163) 163. doi: 10.1038/s42003-018-0155-y

Applying polygenic risk scoring for psychiatric disorders to a large family with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder

2018

Journal Article

Epigenetic prediction of complex traits and death

McCartney, Daniel L., Hillary, Robert F., Stevenson, Anna J., Ritchie, Stuart J., Walker, Rosie M., Zhang, Qian, Morris, Stewart W., Bermingham, Mairead L., Campbell, Archie, Murray, Alison D., Whalley, Heather C., Gale, Catharine R., Porteous, David J., Haley, Chris S., McRae, Allan F., Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., McIntosh, Andrew M., Evans, Kathryn L., Deary, Ian J. and Marioni, Riccardo E. (2018). Epigenetic prediction of complex traits and death. Genome Biology, 19 (1) 136, 136. doi: 10.1186/s13059-018-1514-1

Epigenetic prediction of complex traits and death

2018

Conference Publication

The genetic liability for insomnia is associated with the number of awakenings during sleep in young and healthy individuals

Ghaemmaghami, P., Muto, V., Jaspar, M., Meyer, C., Elansary, M., Van Egroo, M., Berthomier, C., Lambot, E., Brandewinder, M., Luxen, A., Degueldre, C., Salmon, E., Archer, S., Phillips, C., Dijk, D. -J., Visscher, P., Posthuma, D., Van Someren, E., Collette, F., Georges, M., Maquet, P. and Vandewalle, G. (2018). The genetic liability for insomnia is associated with the number of awakenings during sleep in young and healthy individuals. 24th Congress of the European-Sleep-Research-Society (ESRS), Basel Switzerland, Sep 25-28, 2018. HOBOKEN: WILEY.

The genetic liability for insomnia is associated with the number of awakenings during sleep in young and healthy individuals

2018

Journal Article

Oligo-Miocene lacustrine microbial and metazoan buildups from the Limagne Basin (French Massif Central)

Roche, Adeline, Vennin, Emmanuelle, Bouton, Anthony, Olivier, Nicolas, Wattinne, Aurelia, Bundeleva, Irina, Deconinck, Jean-Francois, Virgone, Aurelien, Gaucher, Eric C. and Visscher, Pieter T. (2018). Oligo-Miocene lacustrine microbial and metazoan buildups from the Limagne Basin (French Massif Central). Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 504, 34-59. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.001

Oligo-Miocene lacustrine microbial and metazoan buildups from the Limagne Basin (French Massif Central)

2018

Journal Article

Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia

Tucci, Serena, Vohr, Samuel H., McCoy, Rajiv C., Vernot, Benjamin, Robinson, Matthew R., Barbieri, Chiara, Nelson, Brad J., Fu, Wenqing, Purnomo, Gludhug A., Sudoyo, Herawati, Eichler, Evan E., Barbujani, Guido, Visscher, Peter M., Akey, Joshua M. and Green, Richard E. (2018). Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia. Science, 361 (6401), 511-515. doi: 10.1126/science.aar8486

Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia

2018

Journal Article

Genome-wide association analyses identify 143 risk variants and putative regulatory mechanisms for type 2 diabetes

Xue, Angli, Wu, Yang, Zhu, Zhihong, Zhang, Futao, Kemper, Kathryn E., Zheng, Zhili, Yengo, Loic, Lloyd-Jones, Luke R., Sidorenko, Julia, Wu, Yeda, eQTLGen Consortium, McRae, Allan F., Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and Yang, Jian (2018). Genome-wide association analyses identify 143 risk variants and putative regulatory mechanisms for type 2 diabetes. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 2941, 2941. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04951-w

Genome-wide association analyses identify 143 risk variants and putative regulatory mechanisms for type 2 diabetes

2018

Journal Article

Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals

Lee, James J., Wedow, Robbee, Okbay, Aysu, Kong, Edward, Maghzian, Omeed, Zacher, Meghan, Nguyen-Viet, Tuan Anh, Bowers, Peter, Sidorenko, Julia, Karlsson Linnér, Richard, Fontana, Mark Alan, Kundu, Tushar, Lee, Chanwook, Li, Hui, Li, Ruoxi, Royer, Rebecca, Timshel, Pascal N., Walters, Raymond K., Willoughby, Emily A., Yengo, Loïc, 23andMe Research Team, COGENT (Cognitive Genomics Consortium), Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, Alver, Maris, Bao, Yanchun, Clark, David W., Day, Felix R., Furlotte, Nicholas A., Joshi, Peter K. ... Cesarini, David (2018). Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals. Nature Genetics, 50 (8), 1112-1121. doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0147-3

Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals

2018

Journal Article

Formation of stromatolite lamina at the interface of oxygenic-anoxygenic photosynthesis

Pace, A., Bourillot, R., Bouton, A., Vennin, E., Braissant, O., Dupraz, C., Duteil, T., Bundeleva, I., Patrier, P., Galaup, S., Yokoyama, Y., Franceschi, M., Virgone, A. and Visscher, P. T. (2018). Formation of stromatolite lamina at the interface of oxygenic-anoxygenic photosynthesis. Geobiology, 16 (4), 378-398. doi: 10.1111/gbi.12281

Formation of stromatolite lamina at the interface of oxygenic-anoxygenic photosynthesis

2018

Journal Article

Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness

Yap, Chloe X., Sirodenko, Julia, Marioni, Riccardo E., Yengo, Loic, Wray, Naomi R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 2537, 2537. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04807-3

Misestimation of heritability and prediction accuracy of male-pattern baldness

2018

Journal Article

A correction for sample overlap in genome-wide association studies in a polygenic pleiotropy-informed framework

LeBlanc, Marissa, Zuber, Verena, Thompson, Wesley K., Andreassen, Ole A., Frigessi, Arnoldo, Andreassen, Bettina Kulle, Ripke, Stephan, Neale, Benjamin M., Corvin, Aiden, Walters, James T. R., Farh, Kai-How, Lee, Phil, Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan, Collier, David, Huang, Hailiang, Pers, Tune, Agartz, Ingrid, Agerbo, Esben, Albus, Margot, Alexander, Madeline, Amin, Farooq, Bacanu, Silviu A., Begemann, Martin, Belliveau, Richard A., Bene, Judit, Bevilacqua, Elizabeth, Bigdeli, Tim B., Black, Donald W., Bruggeman, Richard ... Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Working Groups of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2018). A correction for sample overlap in genome-wide association studies in a polygenic pleiotropy-informed framework. BMC Genomics, 19 (1) 494. doi: 10.1186/s12864-018-4859-7

A correction for sample overlap in genome-wide association studies in a polygenic pleiotropy-informed framework

2018

Journal Article

Distribution, redox state and (bio)geochemical implications of arsenic in present day microbialites of Laguna Brava, Salar de Atacama

Sancho-Tomas, Maria, Somogyi, Andrea, Medjoubi, Kadda, Bergamaschi, Antoine, Visscher, Pieter T., Van Driessche, Alexander E. S., Gerard, Emmanuelle, Farias, Maria E., Contreras, Manuel and Philippot, Pascal (2018). Distribution, redox state and (bio)geochemical implications of arsenic in present day microbialites of Laguna Brava, Salar de Atacama. Chemical Geology, 490, 13-21. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.04.029

Distribution, redox state and (bio)geochemical implications of arsenic in present day microbialites of Laguna Brava, Salar de Atacama

2018

Journal Article

Genomic dissection of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, including 28 subphenotypes

Ruderfer, Douglas M., Ripke, Stephan, McQuillin, Andrew, Boocock, James, Stahl, Eli A., Pavlides, Jennifer M. Whitehead, Mullins, Niamh, Charney, Alexander W., Ori, Anil P.S., Loohuis, Loes M. Olde, Domenici, Enrico, Di Florio, Arianna, Papiol, Sergi, Kalman, Janos L., Trubetskoy, Vassily, Adolfsson, Rolf, Agartz, Ingrid, Agerbo, Esben, Akil, Huda, Albani, Diego, Albus, Margot, Alda, Martin, Alexander, Madeline, Alliey-Rodriguez, Ney, Als, Thomas D., Amin, Farooq, Anjorin, Adebayo, Arranz, Maria J., Awasthi, Swapnil ... Kendler, Kenneth S. (2018). Genomic dissection of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, including 28 subphenotypes. Cell, 173 (7), 1705-1715.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.05.046

Genomic dissection of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, including 28 subphenotypes

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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