Skip to menu Skip to content Skip to footer
Dr Enda Byrne
Dr

Enda Byrne

Email: 

Overview

Background

The objective of my research is to improve understanding of the genetic etiology and biological mechanisms underlying risk of common psychiatric disorders, particularly those with onset during childhood and adolescence. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Child Health Research Centre, I lead a number of domestic and international collaborations that evaluate the association between polygenic risk scores, environmental variables and behaviour during childhood and adolescence. My group applies innovative statistical methods to large longitudinal datasets with information from infancy through to adulthood and to evaluate genetic and environmental contributions to risk to mental health problems. In addition, our research focuses on the potential clinical utility of polygenic risk scores in psychiatry. I have contributed to major advances in understanding of the etiology of a number of psychiatric disorders, with a major focus on depression

PhD and Honours projects are available in the group. Please contact me for more information.

Availability

Dr Enda Byrne is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • Genomic Technologies

  • Statistical and Computational methods

Research impacts

My research has contributed to advances in a number of fields through the identification of previously unknown genetic variants that contribute to risk to complex disorders. The identification of these variants opens up new avenues for developing drug targets to target the biological pathways in which they are found.

Works

Search Professor Enda Byrne’s works on UQ eSpace

187 works between 2007 and 2025

121 - 140 of 187 works

2017

Journal Article

Collaborative meta-analysis finds no evidence of a strong interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype contributing to the development of depression

Culverhouse, R. C., Saccone, N. L., Horton, A. C., Ma, Y., Anstey, K. J., Banaschewski, T., Burmeister, M., Cohen-Woods, S., Etain, B., Fisher, H. L., Goldman, N., Guillaume, S., Horwood, J., Juhasz, G., Lester, K. J., Mandelli, L., Middeldorp, C. M., Olie, E., Villafuerte, S., Air, T. M., Araya, R., Bowes, L., Burns, R., Byrne, E. M., Coffey, C., Coventry, W. L., Gawronski, K. A. B., Glei, D., Hatzimanolis, A. ... Bierut, L. J. (2017). Collaborative meta-analysis finds no evidence of a strong interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype contributing to the development of depression. Molecular Psychiatry, 23 (1), 133-142. doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.44

Collaborative meta-analysis finds no evidence of a strong interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype contributing to the development of depression

2017

Journal Article

Genetic effects influencing risk for major depressive disorder in China and Europe

Bigdeli, T. B., Ripke, S., Peterson, R. E., Trzaskowski, M., Bacanu, S-A, Abdellaoui, A., Andlauer, T. F. M., Beekman, A. T. F., Berger, K., Blackwood, D. H. R., Boomsma, D. I., Breen, G., Buttenschon, H. N., Byrne, E. M., Cichon, S., Clarke, T-K, Couvy-Duchesne, B., Craddock, N., de Geus, E. J. C., Degenhardt, F., Dunn, E. C., Edwards, A. C., Fanous, A. H., Forstner, A. J., Frank, J., Gill, M., Gordon, S. D., Grabe, H. J., Hamilton, S. P. ... Kendler, K. S. (2017). Genetic effects influencing risk for major depressive disorder in China and Europe. Translational Psychiatry, 7 (3) e1074, e1074-e1074. doi: 10.1038/tp.2016.292

Genetic effects influencing risk for major depressive disorder in China and Europe

2017

Conference Publication

Shared genetic risk factors between schizophrenia and sleep quality in a population-based cohort of Australian twins

Byrne, E. and Martin, N. (2017). Shared genetic risk factors between schizophrenia and sleep quality in a population-based cohort of Australian twins. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto, Canada, 16-20 October 2017. Elsevier.

Shared genetic risk factors between schizophrenia and sleep quality in a population-based cohort of Australian twins

2016

Journal Article

Genome-wide regional heritability mapping identifies a locus within the TOX2 gene associated with major depressive disorder

Zeng, Yanni, Navarro, Pau, Shirali, Masoud, Howard, David M., Adams, Mark J., Hall, Lynsey S., Clarke, Toni-Kim, Thomson, Pippa A., Smith, Blair H., Murray, Alison, Padmanabhan, Sandosh, Hayward, Caroline, Boutin, Thibaud, MacIntyre, Donald J., Lewis, Cathryn M., Wray, Naomi R., Mehta, Divya, Penninx, Brenda W. J. H., Milaneschi, Yuri, Baune, Bernhard T., Air, Tracy, Hottenga, Jouke-Jan, Mbarek, Hamdi, Castelao, Enrique, Pistis, Giorgio, Schulze, Thomas G., Streit, Fabian, Forstner, Andreas J., Byrne, Enda M. ... McIntosh, Andrew M. (2016). Genome-wide regional heritability mapping identifies a locus within the TOX2 gene associated with major depressive disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 82 (5), 312-321. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.12.012

Genome-wide regional heritability mapping identifies a locus within the TOX2 gene associated with major depressive disorder

2016

Journal Article

Association of the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia with mortality and suicidal behavior - a Danish population-based study

Laursen, Thomas M., Trabjerg, Betina B., Mors, Ole, Borglum, Anders D., Hougaard, David M., Mattheisen, Manuel, Meier, Sandra M., Byrne, Enda M., Mortensen, Preben B., Munk-Olsen, Trine and Agerbo, Esben (2016). Association of the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia with mortality and suicidal behavior - a Danish population-based study. Schizophrenia Research, 184, 122-127. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2016.12.001

Association of the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia with mortality and suicidal behavior - a Danish population-based study

2016

Conference Publication

The genetics of sleep behaviour

Byrne, Enda and Byrne, Enda (2016). The genetics of sleep behaviour. 46th Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association, Brisbane Australia, Jun 20-23, 2016. NEW YORK: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD.

The genetics of sleep behaviour

2016

Journal Article

Genetic variants in RBFOX3 are associated with sleep latency

Amin, Najaf, Allebrandt, Karla V., van der Spek, Ashley, Müller-Myhsok, Bertram, Hek, Karin, Teder-Laving, Maris, Hayward, Caroline, Esko, Tõnu, van Mill, Josine G., Mbarek, Hamdi, Watson, Nathaniel F., Melville, Scott A., Del Greco, Fabiola M., Byrne, Enda M., Oole, Edwin, Kolcic, Ivana, Chen, Ting-hsu, Evans, Daniel S., Coresh, Josef, Vogelzangs, Nicole, Karjalainen, Juha, Willemsen, Gonneke, Gharib, Sina A., Zgaga, Lina, Mihailov, Evelin, Stone, Katie L., Campbell, Harry, Brouwer, Rutger W. W., Demirkan, Ayse ... van Duijn, Cornelia M. (2016). Genetic variants in RBFOX3 are associated with sleep latency. European Journal of Human Genetics, 24 (10), 1488-1495. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2016.31

Genetic variants in RBFOX3 are associated with sleep latency

2016

Journal Article

Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes

Byrne, Enda M., Gehrman, Philip R., Trzaskowski, Maciej, Tiemeier, Henning and Pack, Allan I. (2016). Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes. Sleep, 39 (10), 1853-1857. doi: 10.5665/sleep.6168

Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes

2016

Journal Article

Erratum: Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders (vol 21, pg 1391, 2016)

Otowa, T., Hek, K., Lee, M., Byrne, E. M., Mirza, S. S., Nivard, M. G., Bigdeli, T., Aggen, S. H., Adkins, D., Wolen, A., Fanous, A., Keller, M. C., Castelao, E., Kutalik, Z., Auwera, S. V. der, Homuth, G., Nauck, M., Teumer, A., Milaneschi, Y., Hottenga, J-J, Direk, N., Hofman, A., Uitterlinden, A., Mulder, C. L., Henders, A. K., Medland, S. E., Gordon, S., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A. F. ... Hettema, J. M. (2016). Erratum: Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders (vol 21, pg 1391, 2016). Molecular Psychiatry, 21 (10), 1485-1485. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.11

Erratum: Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders (vol 21, pg 1391, 2016)

2016

Journal Article

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders

Otowa, T., Hek, K., Lee, M., Byrne, E. M., Mirza, S. S., Nivard, M. G., Bigdeli, T., Aggen, S. H., Adkins, D., Wolen, A., Fanous, A., Keller, M. C., Castelao, E., Kutalik, Z., Der Auwera, S. V., Homuth, G., Nauck, M., Teumer, A., Milaneschi, Y., Hottenga, J. -J., Direk, N., Hofman, A., Uitterlinden, A., Mulder, C. L., Henders, A. K., Medland, S. E., Gordon, S., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A. F. ... Hettema, J. M. (2016). Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders. Molecular Psychiatry, 21 (10), 1391-1399. doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.197

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of anxiety disorders

2016

Other Outputs

Common schizophrenia alleles are enriched in mutation-intolerant genes and maintained by background selection

Pardiñas, Antonio F., Holmans, Peter, Pocklington, Andrew J., Escott-Price, Valentina, Ripke, Stephan, Carrera, Noa, Legge, Sophie E., Bishop, Sophie, Cameron, Darren, Hamshere, Marian L., Han, Jun, Hubbard, Leon, Lynham, Amy, Mantripragada, Kiran, Rees, Elliott, MacCabe, James H., McCarroll, Steven A., Baune, Bernhard T., Breen, Gerome, Byrne, Enda M., Dannlowski, Udo, Eley, Thalia C., Hayward, Caroline, Martin, Nicholas G., McIntosh, Andrew M., Plomin, Robert, Porteous, David J., Wray, Naomi R., Consortium, GERAD ... Walters, James T. R. (2016). Common schizophrenia alleles are enriched in mutation-intolerant genes and maintained by background selection. doi: 10.1101/068593

Common schizophrenia alleles are enriched in mutation-intolerant genes and maintained by background selection

2016

Journal Article

Genome-wide association analyses in 128,266 individuals identifies new morningness and sleep duration loci

Jones, Samuel E., Tyrrell, Jessica, Wood, Andrew R., Beaumont, Robin N., Ruth, Katherine S., Tuke, Marcus A., Yaghootkar, Hanieh, Hu, Youna, Teder-Laving, Maris, Hayward, Caroline, Roenneberg, Till, Wilson, James F., Del Greco, Fabiola, Hicks, Andrew A., Shin, Chol, Yun, Chang-Ho, Lee, Seung Ku, Metspalu, Andres, Byrne, Enda M., Gehrman, Philip R., Tiemeier, Henning, Allebrandt, Karla V., Freathy, Rachel M., Murray, Anna, Hinds, David A., Frayling, Timothy M. and Weedon, Michael N. (2016). Genome-wide association analyses in 128,266 individuals identifies new morningness and sleep duration loci. PLoS Genetics, 12 (8) e1006125, e1006125-e1006125. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006125

Genome-wide association analyses in 128,266 individuals identifies new morningness and sleep duration loci

2016

Journal Article

An analysis of two genome-wide association meta-analyses identifies a new locus for broad depression phenotype

Direk, Nese, Williams, Stephanie, Smith, Jennifer A., Ripke, Stephan, Air, Tracy, Amare, Azmeraw T., Amin, Najaf, Baune, Bernhard T., Bennett, David A., Blackwood, Douglas H. R., Boomsma, Dorret, Breen, Gerome, Buttenschon, Henriette N., Byrne, Enda M., Borglum, Anders D., Castelao, Enrique, Cichon, Sven, Clarke, Toni-Kim, Cornelis, Marilyn C., Dannlowski, Udo, De Jager, Philip L., Demirkan, Ayse, Domenici, Enrico, van Duijn, Cornelia M., Dunn, Erin C., Eriksson, Johan G., Esko, Tonu, Faul, Jessica D., Ferrucci, Luigi ... Sullivan, Patrick F. (2016). An analysis of two genome-wide association meta-analyses identifies a new locus for broad depression phenotype. Biological Psychiatry, 82 (5), 322-329. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.11.013

An analysis of two genome-wide association meta-analyses identifies a new locus for broad depression phenotype

2016

Journal Article

Genome-wide association for major depression through age at onset stratification: Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium

Power, Robert A., Tansey, Katherine E., Buttenschøn, Henriette Nørmølle, Cohen-Woods, Sarah, Bigdeli, Tim, Hall, Lynsey S., Kutalik, Zoltán, Lee, S. Hong, Ripke, Stephan, Steinberg, Stacy, Teumer, Alexander, Viktorin, Alexander, Wray, Naomi R., Arolt, Volker, Baune, Bernard T., Boomsma, Dorret I., Børglum, Anders D., Byrne, Enda M., Castelao, Enrique, Craddock, Nick, Craig, Ian, Dannlowski, Udo, Deary, Ian J., Degenhardt, Franziska, Forstner, Andreas J., Gordon, Scott D., Grabe, Hans J., Grove, Jakob, Hamilton, Steven P. ... Lewis, Cathryn M. (2016). Genome-wide association for major depression through age at onset stratification: Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Biological Psychiatry, 81 (4), 325-335. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.010

Genome-wide association for major depression through age at onset stratification: Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium

2016

Other Outputs

Genome-wide association analyses in > 119,000 individuals identifies thirteen morningness and two sleep duration loci

Jones, Samuel E., Tyrrell, Jessica, Wood, Andrew R., Beaumont, Robin N., Ruth, Katherine S., Tuke, Marcus A., Yaghootkar, Hanieh, Hu, Youna, Teder-Laving, Maris, Hayward, Caroline, Roenneberg, Till, Wilson, James F., Del Greco, Fabiola, Hicks, Andrew A., Shin, Chol, Yun, Chang-Ho, Lee, Seung Ku, Metspalu, Andres, Byrne, Enda M., Gehrman, Philip R., Tiemeier, Henning, Allebrandt, Karla V., Freathy, Rachel M., Murray, Anna, Hinds, David A., Frayling, Timothy M. and Weedon, Michael N. (2016). Genome-wide association analyses in > 119,000 individuals identifies thirteen morningness and two sleep duration loci. doi: 10.1101/031369

Genome-wide association analyses in > 119,000 individuals identifies thirteen morningness and two sleep duration loci

2016

Conference Publication

Sleep disorders and risk of incident depression: A population case-control study

Byrne, E. and Agerbo, E. (2016). Sleep disorders and risk of incident depression: A population case-control study. 28th ASM of Australasian Sleep Association and Australasian Sleep Technologists Association, Adelaide Convention Centre, 20-22 October 2016. HOBOKEN: Wiley. doi: 10.1111/jsr.12453

Sleep disorders and risk of incident depression: A population case-control study

2016

Conference Publication

Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type-2 diabetes

Byrne, E., Gehrman, P. R., Tiemeier, H. and Pack, A. I. (2016). Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type-2 diabetes. 28th ASM of Australasian Sleep Association and Australasian Sleep Technologists Association, Adelaide Convention Centre, 20-22 October 2016. HOBOKEN: Wiley. doi: 10.1111/jsr.12453

Genetic correlation analysis suggests association between increased self-reported sleep duration in adults and schizophrenia and type-2 diabetes

2015

Journal Article

Genetics of sleep disorders

Gehrman, Philip R., Keenan, Brendan T., Byrne, Enda M. and Pack, Allan I. (2015). Genetics of sleep disorders. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 38 (4), 667-681. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2015.07.004

Genetics of sleep disorders

2015

Journal Article

Design and implementation of the international genetics and translational research in transplantation network

Keating, Brendan J., van Setten, Jessica, Jacobson, Pamala A., Holmes, Michael V., Verma, Shefali S., Chandrupatla, Hareesh R., Nair, Nikhil, Gao, Hui, Li, Yun R., Chang, Bao-Li, Wong, Chanel, Phillips, Randy, Cole, Brian S., Mukhtar, Eyas, Zhang, Weijia, Cao, Hongzhi, Mohebnasab, Maede, Hou, Cuiping, Lee, Takesha, Steel, Laura, Shaked, Oren, Garifallou, James, Miller, Michael B., Karczewski, Konrad J., Akdere, Abdullah, Gonzalez, Ana, Lloyd, Kelsey M., McGinn, Daniel, Michaud, Zach ... The International Genetics & Translational Research in Transplantation Network (2015). Design and implementation of the international genetics and translational research in transplantation network. Transplantation, 99 (11), 2401-2412. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000000913

Design and implementation of the international genetics and translational research in transplantation network

2015

Journal Article

The association between lower educational attainment and depression owing to shared genetic effects? results in ∼25 000 subjects

Peyrot, W. J., Lee, S. H., Milaneschi, Y., Abdellaoui, A., Byrne, E. M., Esko, T., de Geus, E. J. C., Hemani, G., Hottenga, J. J., Kloiber, S., Levinson, D. F., Lucae, S., Martin, N. G., Medland, S. E., Metspalu, A., Milani, L., Noethen, M. M., Potash, J. B., Rietschel, M., Rietveld, C. A., Ripke, S., Shi, J., Willemsen, G., Zhu, Z., Boomsma, D. I., Wray, N. R., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium and Middeldorp, Christel (2015). The association between lower educational attainment and depression owing to shared genetic effects? results in ∼25 000 subjects. Molecular Psychiatry, 20 (6), 735-743. doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.50

The association between lower educational attainment and depression owing to shared genetic effects? results in ∼25 000 subjects

Funding

Current funding

  • 2023 - 2027
    Enabling pharmacogenomics in the Australian context: improving the accuracy of clinical utility and cost effectiveness analyses (MRFF externally administered by QIMR)
    Queensland Institute of Medical Research
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2027
    Youth-GEMs: Gene Environment interactions in Mental health trajectories of Youth
    NHMRC European Union Collaborative Research Grants
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2027
    Gene Environment interactions in Mental health trajectories of Youth - YOUTH-GEMs (EU grant administered by Maastricht University)
    Maastricht University
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2025
    Australian Pharmacogenomics Diversity Project: Examining the evidence and improving the performance of pharmacogenomics in the Australian context (MRFF grant administered by QIMR Berghofer)
    Queensland Institute of Medical Research
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2019 - 2024
    Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment
    Research Donation Generic
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Tackling heterogeneity in the etiology of major depressive disorder (NHMRC Project Grant administered by QIMR)
    Queensland Institute of Medical Research
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2017
    Discovering deep sleep genes and determining their roles for preserving cognitive functions
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2017
    NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (CJ Martin - Overseas Biomedical Fellowship): Using new genomic technologies, statistical and computational methods to uncover the genetic aetiology of complex traits
    NHMRC Training (Postdoctoral) Fellowship
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Enda Byrne is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Available projects

  • Gene Environment interactions in Mental health trajectories of Youth (Youth-GEMs)

    Mental health problems are common in young people, with life-long enduring impacts on individuals, families and societies. More than 63% of mental disorders throughout the life span emerge before 24 years of age, peaking at 14.5-18 years. Adolescence and young adulthood represent a critical period that forecasts the level of mental wellbeing over lifetime and interventions early in life may be critical in preventing later mental illness.

    The Child and Youth Mental Health Group is part of an Australian and European Union-funded consortium called Youth-GEMs that seeks to characterise and model trajectories of mental health in youth. In collaboration with researchers from universities in Europe, this project will combine datasets from longitudinal cohort studies from around the world to investigate the interplay between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental risk in influencing mental health across development.

    This project will involve advanced data analytics and statistical inference and will involve combining and analysing different types of data including genetic, clinical and environmental data. The ultimate goal is to develop predictive tools that can be used to aid clinical decision-making in youth mental health.

    We are seeking a motivated PhD scholar with a background in genetics, biomedical science, psychology, data science, machine learning or a related field to join our team and work closely with collaborators overseas on this project. There is also the possibility to spend time overseas at one of the collaborating labs.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Gene Environment interactions in Mental health trajectories of Youth

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Genetics of childhood onset psychiatric symptoms, their persistence and comorbidity with other traits

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Naomi Wray

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Genetics of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and associated comorbidities

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae

  • Doctor Philosophy

    ELUCIDATING LIFESTYLE AND GENETIC FACTORS UNDERLYING DEPRESSION HETEROGENEITY AND TREATMENT RESPONSE

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Naomi Wray

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Multi-Omic Analyses of a Clinical Trial Cohort of Young People at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae, Professor Naomi Wray

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

For media enquiries about Dr Enda Byrne's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au