
Overview
Background
Naomi Wray is the Michael Davys Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. She holds an appointment at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) within the University of Queensland. She joined UQ Queensland Brain Institute in 2011 moving to the IMB in 2015. She was Head of the Centre for Population & Disease Genomics within IMB 2018-2023. Her Oxford appointment started in 2023.
Her research focuses on development and application of quantitative genetics and genomics methodologies across complex diseases, disorders and traits, but particularly psychiatric-related traits.
She is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. In 2020 she was awarded the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Award for Leadership in Basic Science and the 2021 International Society of Psychiatric Genetics Ming Tsuang Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a Clarivate Highly Cited researcher.
She was Director of the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) funded as an NHMRC Program Grant 2017-2022. She plays a key role in the International Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and established the sporadic ALS Australia systems genomics consortium (SALSA) funded by the MND Research Australia IceBucket Challenge and FightMND. She is a co-investigator on the Australian Genetics of Depression Study (AGDS) and is currently launching the AGDS-Cello project focussed on establishing a cell line resource from participants with a detailed history of anti-depressant use and response measures. She is part of an NHMRC Synergy (2023-2027) "Rhythms and blues: Personalising care for body clock dysfunction in mood disorders".
She is secretary of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, and is on the editorial advisory boards of JAMA Psychiatry, Neuron, Royal Society Open and Research Directions: Depression.
Availability
- Professor Naomi Wray is:
- Not available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh
Research interests
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Genetics of complex genetic traits, disease and disorders
Quantitative genetics methodology Genetics of Psychiatric Disorder Genetics of Motor Neurone Disease Genetics of Cognitive Ageing Systems Genomics
Works
Search Professor Naomi Wray’s works on UQ eSpace
2019
Conference Publication
Identification of genetic risk factors for postpartum depression
Guintivano, Jerry, Byrne, Enda, Watson, Hunna, Wray, Naomi, Meltzer-Brody, Samantha and Sullivan, Patrick (2019). Identification of genetic risk factors for postpartum depression. 27th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, Los Angeles, United States, 26-31 October 2019. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.07.194
2019
Conference Publication
Common genetic variation explains a high proportion of the elevated risk of psychiatric disorders in children of younger mothers
Gratten, Jacob, Yang, Yuanhao, Trzaskowski, Maciej, Kemper, Kathryn, Yengo, Loic, Zheng, Zhili, Zhang, Futao, Zhu, Zhihong, Mcrae, Allan, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi and Visscher, Peter (2019). Common genetic variation explains a high proportion of the elevated risk of psychiatric disorders in children of younger mothers. 26th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Glasgow, Scotland, 11-15 October, 2018. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.08.167
2019
Conference Publication
Evaluating the impact of non-random mating: psychiatric outcomes among the offspring of pairs diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Crowley, James, Nordsletten, Ashley, Brander, Gustaf, Sullivan, Patrick, Wray, Naomi, Larsson, Henrik, Lichtenstein, Paul and Mataix-Cols, David (2019). Evaluating the impact of non-random mating: psychiatric outcomes among the offspring of pairs diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. 26th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Glasgow, Scotland, 11-15 October 2018. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.08.197
2019
Conference Publication
The omnigenic architecture of human complex traits
Pritchard, Jonathan and Wray, Naomi (2019). The omnigenic architecture of human complex traits. 26th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, Glasgow, Scotland, 11-15 October 2018. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.07.093
2019
Conference Publication
Validating GWA associations in psychiatric disorders with functional genomic data
Trzaskowski, Maciej, Byrne, Enda, Yang, Jian and Wray, Naomi (2019). Validating GWA associations in psychiatric disorders with functional genomic data. 25th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Orlando, FL, United States, 13-17 October 2017. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier . doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2017.08.019
2019
Conference Publication
Genetics of depression
Flint, Jonathan, McIntosh, Andrew and Wray, Naomi (2019). Genetics of depression. 27th World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, Los Angeles, California, 26-31 October 2019 . Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.07.106
2018
Journal Article
Trajectories of inflammatory biomarkers over the eighth decade and their associations with immune cell profiles and epigenetic ageing
Stevenson, Anna J., McCartney, Daniel L., Harris, Sarah E., Taylor, Adele M., Redmond, Paul, Starr, John M., Zhang, Qian, McRae, Allan F., Wray, Naomi R., Spires-Jones, Tara L., McColl, Barry W., McIntosh, Andrew M., Deary, Ian J. and Marioni, Riccardo E. (2018). Trajectories of inflammatory biomarkers over the eighth decade and their associations with immune cell profiles and epigenetic ageing. Clinical Epigenetics, 10 (1) 159, 159. doi: 10.1186/s13148-018-0585-x
2018
Journal Article
Dissection of genetic variation and evidence for pleiotropy in male pattern baldness
Yap, Chloe X., Sidorenko, Julia, Wu, Yang, Kemper, Kathryn E., Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Robinson, Matthew R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2018). Dissection of genetic variation and evidence for pleiotropy in male pattern baldness. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 5407, 5407. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07862-y
2018
Journal Article
Identification of 55,000 replicated DNA methylation QTL
McRae, Allan F., Marioni, Riccardo E., Shah, Sonia, Yang, Jian, Powell, Joseph E., Harris, Sarah E., Gibson, Jude, Henders, Anjali K., Bowdler, Lisa, Painter, Jodie N., Murphy, Lee, Martin, Nicholas G., Starr, John M., Wray, Naomi R., Deary, Ian J., Visscher, Peter M. and Montgomery, Grant W. (2018). Identification of 55,000 replicated DNA methylation QTL. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) 17605, 17605. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35871-w
2018
Journal Article
The association between neonatal vitamin D status and risk of schizophrenia
Eyles, Darryl W., Trzaskowski, Maciej, Vinkhuyzen, Anna A. E., Mattheisen, Manuel, Meier, Sandra, Gooch, Helen, Anggono, Victor, Cui, Xiaoying, Tan, Men Chee, Burne, Thomas H. J., Jang, Se Eun, Kvaskoff, David, Hougaard, David M., Nørgaard-Pedersen, Bent, Cohen, Arieh, Agerbo, Esben, Pedersen, Carsten B., Børglum, Anders D., Mors, Ole, Sah, Pankaj, Wray, Naomi R., Mortensen, Preben B. and McGrath, John J. (2018). The association between neonatal vitamin D status and risk of schizophrenia. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) 17692, 17692. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35418-z
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
2018
Journal Article
PPD ACT: an app-based genetic study of postpartum depression
Guintivano, Jerry, Krohn, Holly, Lewis, Carol, Byrne, Enda M., Henders, Anjali K., Ploner, Alexander, Kirk, Katherine, Martin, Nicholas G., Milgrom, Jeannette, Wray, Naomi R., Sullivan, Patrick F. and Meltzer-Brody, Samantha (2018). PPD ACT: an app-based genetic study of postpartum depression. Translational Psychiatry, 8 (1) 260, 260. doi: 10.1038/s41398-018-0305-5
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
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
2018
Journal Article
Is schizophrenia a risk factor for breast cancer?—evidence from genetic data
Byrne, Enda M., Ferreira, Manuel A.R., Xue, Angli, Lindström, Sara, Jiang, Xia, Yang, Jian, Easton, Douglas F., Wray, Naomi R. and Chenevix-Trench, Georgia (2018). Is schizophrenia a risk factor for breast cancer?—evidence from genetic data. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 45 (6), 1251-1256. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sby162
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
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
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
2018
Journal Article
Study protocol for the Australian autism biobank: an international resource to advance autism discovery research
Alvares, Gail A., Dawson, Paul A., Dissanayake, Cheryl, Eapen, Valsamma, Gratten, Jacob, Grove, Rachel, Henders, Anjali, Heussler, Helen, Lawson, Lauren, Masi, Anne, Raymond, Emma, Rose, Felicity, Wallace, Leanne, Wray, Naomi R. and Whitehouse, Andrew J. O. (2018). Study protocol for the Australian autism biobank: an international resource to advance autism discovery research. BMC Pediatrics, 18 (1) 284, 284. doi: 10.1186/s12887-018-1255-z
2018
Journal Article
DNA methylation signatures of depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly persons: meta-analysis of multiethnic epigenome-wide studies
Story Jovanova, Olivera, Nedeljkovic, Ivana, Derek, Spieler, Walker, Rosie M., Liu, Chunyu, Luciano, Michelle, Bressler, Jan, Brody, Jennifer, Drake, Amanda J., Evans, Kathryn L., Gondalia, Rahul, Kunze, Sonja, Kuhnel, Brigitte, Lahti, Jari, Lemaitre, Rozenn N., Marioni, Riccardo E., Swenson, Brenton, Himali, Jayandra Jung, Wu, Hongsheng, Li, Yun, McRae, Allan F., Russ, Tom C., Stewart, James, Wang, Zhiying, Zhang, Guosheng, Ladwig, Karl-Heinz, Uitterlinden, Andre G., Guo, Xiuqing, Peters, Annette ... Amin, Najaf (2018). DNA methylation signatures of depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly persons: meta-analysis of multiethnic epigenome-wide studies. JAMA Psychiatry, 75 (9), 949-959. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1725
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Naomi Wray is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-Omic Analyses of a Clinical Trial Cohort of Young People at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne, Dr Allan McRae
-
Doctor Philosophy
Genetics of childhood onset psychiatric symptoms, their persistence and comorbidity with other traits
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
-
Doctor Philosophy
Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations in humans
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Visscher, Dr Fleur Garton, Dr Jian Zeng
-
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding cellular and molecular heterogeneity in endometriosis using multi-omics data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Sally Mortlock, Dr Allan McRae
Completed supervision
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Studying the effects of DNA methylation variation across neurodegenerative disorders
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Genetic analyses of complex traits using biobank data
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Visscher
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
A Complex Trait Genomics Approach to Investigating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae
-
2017
Doctor Philosophy
The Genetic Architecture of Psychiatric Disorders
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Visscher
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
The Role of Cytokines and Inflammatory Markers in Depression in Adolescents
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor James Scott, Professor Nick Martin
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Using genomic data to advance understanding of heart failure aetiology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sonia Shah
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Development and application of statistical methods to identify genes and cell types associated with complex traits
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jian Zeng
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Complement Modulation of Peripheral Immunity in Motor Neurone Disease and Huntington's Disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr John Lee, Professor Trent Woodruff
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
The Genomics of Perinatal Depression
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the influence of genetics and heritability on the heterogeneity of ADHD presentations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Sarah Medland
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Systems biology of motor neurone disease
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Shyuan Ngo, Dr Allan McRae
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-omics data offer systemic insights into autism
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Gerald Holtmann, Honorary Professor Jake Gratten
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Genetic influences on substance use behaviour, substance use disorders and psychiatric disorders
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Sarah Medland, Professor Nick Martin, Dr Lucia Colodro-Conde
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Improving fine-mapping methodology using DNA methylation as a model trait
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Visscher, Dr Allan McRae
-
2018
Master Philosophy
Integrating genome-wide association study data with gene expression to understand complex traits and common diseases
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae, Honorary Professor Jake Gratten
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