Overview
Background
I am a genetic epidemiologist specialising in the genetics of neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, and other age-related conditions. I lead a dynamic team of scientists dedicated to understanding how genetic and environmental factors influence neurodegeneration, brain health, and related health outcomes. My research is interdisciplinary, integrating advanced statistical genetics, bioinformatics, and data science to unravel disease mechanisms, improve patient stratification, and identify potential therapeutic targets.
In 2020, I founded the Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study (APGS), now the largest Parkinson’s cohort in Australia with over 10,000 participants. This landmark study has positioned Australia as a key contributor to global Parkinson’s genetics research. I am also actively involved in the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2), where I contribute to large-scale data analysis and work within the underrepresented populations working group to enhance diversity in genetic research worldwide.
Committed to training the next generation of researchers, I have supervised over 16 students, including several PhD candidates who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. Two of my recent PhD graduates received the Outstanding Thesis Award, and another received the AIPS Florey Next Generation Award.
I have published consistently in prominent journals, including Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, BRAIN, Biological Psychiatry, and SLEEP. To date, I have authored over 100 academic articles, which have been widely cited, and I have secured competitive funding from NHMRC, MRFF, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Shake It Up Australia Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Alzheimer’s Association. My work has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the 2023 Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, the 2021 Enrico Greppi International Migraine Research Award, and the 2024 Adele Green Emerging Leader Award from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. I am also a Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, a program by the University of California San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin, which supports my commitment to promoting brain health equity worldwide.
Availability
- Associate Professor Miguel Rentería is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Genomics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
- Doctor of Philosophy of Genetics, The University of Queensland
- Masters (Coursework) of Public Policy, University of Oxford
Works
Search Professor Miguel Rentería’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Evidence of genetic overlap between circadian preference and brain white matter microstructure
Garcia-Marin, Luis M., Alcauter, Sarael, Campos, Adrian I., Mulcahy, Aoibhe, Kho, Pik-Fang, Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2021). Evidence of genetic overlap between circadian preference and brain white matter microstructure. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 24 (1) PII S1832427421000049, 1-6. doi: 10.1017/thg.2021.4
2021
Journal Article
Brain correlates of suicide attempt in 18,925 participants across 18 international cohorts
Campos, Adrian I., Thompson, Paul M., Veltman, Dick J., Pozzi, Elena, van Veltzen, Laura S., Jahanshad, Neda, Adams, Mark J., Baune, Bernhard T., Berger, Klaus, Brosch, Katharina, Bülow, Robin, Connolly, Colm G., Dannlowski, Udo, Davey, Christopher G., de Zubicaray, Greig I., Dima, Danai, Erwin-Grabner, Tracy, Evans, Jennifer W., Fu, Cynthia H.Y., Gotlib, Ian H., Goya-Maldonado, Roberto, Grabe, Hans J., Grotegerd, Dominik, Harris, Matthew A., Harrison, Ben J., Hatton, Sean N., Hermesdorf, Marco, Hickie, Ian B., Ho, Tiffany C. ... Rentería, Miguel E. (2021). Brain correlates of suicide attempt in 18,925 participants across 18 international cohorts. Biological Psychiatry, 90 (4), 243-252. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.03.015
2021
Other Outputs
Predictors of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children: results from penalized logistic regression analyses in the ABCD study
van Velzen, Laura S., Toenders, Yara J., Avila-Parcet, Aina, Dinga, Richard, Rabinowitz, Jill A., Campos, Adrián I., Jahanshad, Neda, Rentería, Miguel E. and Schmaal, Lianne (2021). Predictors of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children: results from penalized logistic regression analyses in the ABCD study. doi: 10.1101/2021.02.15.21251736
2021
Journal Article
Inference of causal relationships between sleep-related traits and 1,527 phenotypes using genetic data
García-Marín, Luis M., Campos, Adrián I., Martin, Nicholas G., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2021). Inference of causal relationships between sleep-related traits and 1,527 phenotypes using genetic data. Sleep, 44 (1) zsaa154. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa154
2020
Journal Article
Depression polygenic scores are associated with major depressive disorder diagnosis and depressive episode in Mexican adolescents
Rabinowitz, Jill A., Campos, Adrian I., Benjet, Corina, Su, Jinni, Macias-Kauffer, Luis, Méndez, Enrique, Martinez-Levy, Gabriela A., Cruz-Fuentes, Carlos S. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Depression polygenic scores are associated with major depressive disorder diagnosis and depressive episode in Mexican adolescents. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 2 100028. doi: 10.1016/j.jadr.2020.100028
2020
Other Outputs
Dissecting the shared genetic architecture of suicide attempt, psychiatric disorders and known risk factors
Mullins, Niamh, Kang, Jooeun, Campos, Adrian I, Coleman, Jonathan R I, Edwards, Alexis C, Galfalvy, Hanga, Levey, Daniel F, Lori, Adriana, Shabalin, Andrey, Starnawska, Anna, Su, Mei-Hsin, Watson, Hunna J, Adams, Mark, Awasthi, Swapnil, Gandal, Michael, Hafferty, Jonathan D, Hishimoto, Akitoyo, Kim, Minsoo, Okazaki, Satoshi, Otsuka, Ikuo, Ripke, Stephan, Ware, Erin B, Bergen, Andrew W, Berrettini, Wade H, Bohus, Martin, Brandt, Harry, Chang, Xiao, Chen, Wei J, Chen, Hsi-Chung ... Ruderfer, Douglas M (2020). Dissecting the shared genetic architecture of suicide attempt, psychiatric disorders and known risk factors. doi: 10.1101/2020.12.01.20241281
2020
Other Outputs
Phenome-wide screening of GWAS data reveals the complex causal architecture of obesity
García-Marín, Luis M., Campos, Adrián I., Kho, Pik-Fang, Martin, Nicholas G., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Phenome-wide screening of GWAS data reveals the complex causal architecture of obesity. doi: 10.1101/2020.10.20.20216598
2020
Conference Publication
The relationship between comorbid chronic pain and poorer self-reported antidepressant efficacy is partly mediated by genetics
Campos, Adrián I., Roughan, William H., García-Marin, Luis M., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Lupton, Michelle K., Hickie, Ian B., Medland, Sarah E., Wray, Naomi R., Byrne, Enda M., Ngo, Trung T., Martin, Nicholas G. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). The relationship between comorbid chronic pain and poorer self-reported antidepressant efficacy is partly mediated by genetics. Virtual 2020 World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Online, 16–22 October 2020.
2020
Journal Article
Assessment and visualization of phenome-wide causal relationships using genetic data: an application to dental caries and periodontitis
Haworth, Simon, Kho, Pik Fang, Holgerson, Pernilla Lif, Hwang, Liang-Dar, Timpson, Nicholas J., Rentería, Miguel E., Johansson, Ingegerd and Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel (2020). Assessment and visualization of phenome-wide causal relationships using genetic data: an application to dental caries and periodontitis. European Journal of Human Genetics, 29 (2), 300-308. doi: 10.1038/s41431-020-00734-4
2020
Other Outputs
Genetic susceptibility to pneumonia: A GWAS meta-analysis between UK Biobank and FinnGen
Campos, Adrian I., Kho, Pik Fang, Vazquez-Prada, Karla X., García-Marín, Luis M., Martin, Nicholas G., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Genetic susceptibility to pneumonia: A GWAS meta-analysis between UK Biobank and FinnGen. doi: 10.1101/2020.06.22.20103556
2020
Journal Article
Genetic aetiology of self-harm ideation and behaviour
Campos, Adrian I., Verweij, Karin J. H., Statham, Dixie J., Madden, Pamela A. F., Maciejewski, Dominique F., Davis, Katrina A. S., John, Ann, Hotopf, Matthew, Heath, Andrew C., Martin, Nicholas G. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Genetic aetiology of self-harm ideation and behaviour. Scientific Reports, 10 (1) 9713, 9713. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66737-9
2020
Other Outputs
Depression polygenic scores are associated with major depressive disorder diagnosis and depressive episode in Mexican adolescents
Rabinowitz, Jill A., Campos, Adrian I., Benjet, Corina, Su, Jinni, Macias-Kauffer, Luis, Méndez, Enrique, Martinez-Levy, Gabriela A., Cruz-Fuentes, Carlos S. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Depression polygenic scores are associated with major depressive disorder diagnosis and depressive episode in Mexican adolescents. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.31.20118711
2020
Journal Article
ENIGMA MDD: seven years of global neuroimaging studies of major depression through worldwide data sharing
Schmaal, Lianne, Pozzi, Elena, C. Ho, Tiffany, van Velzen, Laura S., Veer, Ilya M., Opel, Nils, Van Someren, Eus J. W., Han, Laura K. M., Aftanas, Lybomir, Aleman, André, Baune, Bernhard T., Berger, Klaus, Blanken, Tessa F., Capitão, Liliana, Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste, R. Cullen, Kathryn, Dannlowski, Udo, Davey, Christopher, Erwin-Grabner, Tracy, Evans, Jennifer, Frodl, Thomas, Fu, Cynthia H. Y., Godlewska, Beata, Gotlib, Ian H., Goya-Maldonado, Roberto, Grabe, Hans J., Groenewold, Nynke A., Grotegerd, Dominik, Gruber, Oliver ... Veltman, Dick J. (2020). ENIGMA MDD: seven years of global neuroimaging studies of major depression through worldwide data sharing. Translational Psychiatry, 10 (1) 172, 172. doi: 10.1038/s41398-020-0842-6
2020
Other Outputs
Comorbid chronic pain and depression: Shared risk factors and differential antidepressant effectiveness
Roughan, William H., Campos, Adrián I., García-Marín, Luis M., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Lupton, Michelle K., Hickie, Ian B., Medland, Sarah E., Wray, Naomi R., Byrne, Enda M., Ngo, Trung Thanh, Martin, Nicholas G. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Comorbid chronic pain and depression: Shared risk factors and differential antidepressant effectiveness. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.23.20110841
2020
Journal Article
Educational attainment polygenic scores are associated with cortical total surface area and regions important for language and memory
Mitchell, Brittany L., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel, Grasby, Katrina L., Campos, Adrian I., Strike, Lachlan T., Hwang, Liang-Dar, Okbay, Aysu, Thompson, Paul M., Medland, Sarah E., Martin, Nicholas G., Wright, Margaret J. and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Educational attainment polygenic scores are associated with cortical total surface area and regions important for language and memory. NeuroImage, 212 116691, 116691. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116691
2020
Other Outputs
Inference of causal relationships between sleep-related traits and 1,527 phenotypes using genetic data
García-Marín, Luis M., Campos, Adrián I., Martin, Nicholas G., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Inference of causal relationships between sleep-related traits and 1,527 phenotypes using genetic data. doi: 10.1101/2020.05.06.20092643
2020
Journal Article
ENIGMA and global neuroscience: a decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries
Thompson, Paul M., Jahanshad, Neda, Ching, Christopher R. K., Salminen, Lauren E., Thomopoulos, Sophia I., Bright, Joanna, Baune, Bernhard T., Bertolín, Sara, Bralten, Janita, Bruin, Willem B., Bülow, Robin, Chen, Jian, Chye, Yann, Dannlowski, Udo, de Kovel, Carolien G. F., Donohoe, Gary, Eyler, Lisa T., Faraone, Stephen V., Favre, Pauline, Filippi, Courtney A., Frodl, Thomas, Garijo, Daniel, Gil, Yolanda, Grabe, Hans J., Grasby, Katrina L., Hajek, Tomas, Han, Laura K. M., Hatton, Sean N., Hilbert, Kevin ... Zelman, Vladimir (2020). ENIGMA and global neuroscience: a decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries. Translational psychiatry, 10 (1) 100, 100. doi: 10.1038/s41398-020-0705-1
2020
Journal Article
Genetic testing for Alzheimerʼs disease : trends, challenges and ethical considerations
Rentería, Miguel E., Mitchell, Brittany L. and Manrique de Lara, Amaranta (2020). Genetic testing for Alzheimerʼs disease : trends, challenges and ethical considerations. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 33 (2), 136-140. doi: 10.1097/yco.0000000000000573
2020
Journal Article
Insights into the aetiology of snoring from observational and genetic investigations in the UK Biobank
Campos, Adrián I., García-Marín, Luis M., Byrne, Enda M., Martin, Nicholas G., Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel and Rentería, Miguel E. (2020). Insights into the aetiology of snoring from observational and genetic investigations in the UK Biobank. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 817, 817. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14625-1
2020
Conference Publication
Genetic, lifestyle and environmental risk factors for chronic pain revealed through GWAS
Lundberg, Mischa, Campos, Adrian I., Farrell, Scott F., Wang, Geng, Sterling, Michele M., Rentería, Miguel E., Ngo, Trung Thanh and Cuéllar-Partida, Gabriel (2020). Genetic, lifestyle and environmental risk factors for chronic pain revealed through GWAS. 50th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, Online, 26 June 2020. NEW YORK: SPRINGER.
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Miguel Rentería is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Monogenic Parkinson's disease among individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in Australia and Mexico
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Elucidating the genetic architecture of neuropsychiatric phenotypes and other complex human traits
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Elucidating the genetic architecture of neuropsychiatric phenotypes and other complex human traits
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Elucidating the genetic architecture of neuropsychiatric phenotypes and other complex human traits
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Genetic Aetiology of Cognitive and Speech-Related Features in Parkinson's Disease
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
From Genes to Brain Networks: AI Approaches to Understanding the Genetic Foundations of Brain Functionality in Health and Disease
Associate Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding the genetic aetiology of age-related diseases in diverse populations
Associate Advisor
-
Master Philosophy
Application of machine learning techniques on longitudinal fitness tracker data to augment disease risk prediction.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Quan Nguyen
-
Doctor Philosophy
Bridging gaps on the genetics of age-related disorder among under-represented populations
Associate Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Genetic architecture of differences in symptomatology and treatment response in major depressive disorder
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin, Honorary Professor Sarah Medland
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Elucidating the genetic architecture of neuropsychiatric phenotypes and other complex human traits
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding psychiatric disease: From aetiology to outcomes and treatment response
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick Martin
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Miguel Rentería directly for media enquiries about:
- Human genetics
- Parkinson's disease
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