
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
2017
Journal Article
Extra-motor abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: another layer of heterogeneity
McCombe, P. A., Wray, N. R. and Henderson, R. D. (2017). Extra-motor abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: another layer of heterogeneity. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 17 (6), 561-577. doi: 10.1080/14737175.2017.1273772
2017
Journal Article
Maternal depression and family adversity: linked pathways to offspring depression?
Najman, Jake M., Plotnikova, M., Williams, G. M., Alati, R., Mamun, A. A., Scott, J., Clavarino, A. M. and Wray, N. (2017). Maternal depression and family adversity: linked pathways to offspring depression?. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 88, 97-104. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.01.006
2017
Journal Article
Genetic signatures of high-altitude adaptation in Tibetans
Yang, Jian, Jin, Zi-Bing, Chen, Jie, Huang, Xiu-Feng, Li, Xiao-Man, Liang, Yuan-Bo, Mao, Jian-Yang, Chen, Xin, Zheng, Zhili, Bakshi, Andrew, Zheng, Dong-Dong, Zheng, Mei-Qin, Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., Lu, Fan and Qu, Jia (2017). Genetic signatures of high-altitude adaptation in Tibetans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114 (16), 4189-4194. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617042114
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
2017
Journal Article
Genetic correlation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and schizophrenia
McLaughlin, Russell L., Schijven, Dick, Van Rheenen, Wouter, Van Eijk, Kriste R., O'Brien, Margaret, Kahn, Rene S., Ophoff, Roel A., Goris, An, Bradley, Daniel G., Al-Chalabi, Ammar, Van Den Berg, Leonard H., Luykx, Jurjen J., Hardiman, Orla, Veldink, Jan H., Project MinE GWAS Consortium, Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Catts, Stanley V., Gratten, Jacob, Lee, S. Hong, Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M. and Mowry, Bryan J. (2017). Genetic correlation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and schizophrenia. Nature Communications, 8 (1) 14774, 14774. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14774
2017
Journal Article
Using information of relatives in genomic prediction to apply effective stratified medicine
Lee, S. Hong, Weerasinghe, W. M. Shalanee P., Wray, Naomi R., Goddard, Michael E. and Van Der Werf, Julius H. J. (2017). Using information of relatives in genomic prediction to apply effective stratified medicine. Scientific Reports, 7 (1) 42091, 42091. doi: 10.1038/srep42091
2017
Journal Article
Trajectories of maternal depression: a 27-year population-based prospective study
Najman, J. M., Plotnikova, M., Williams, G. M., Alati, R., Mamun, A. A., Scott, J., Wray, N. and Clavarino, A. M. (2017). Trajectories of maternal depression: a 27-year population-based prospective study. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 26 (1), 79-88. doi: 10.1017/S2045796015001109
2017
Journal Article
Risk of psychiatric illness from advanced paternal age is not predominantly from de novo mutations
Gratten, Jacob, Wray, Naomi R., Peyrot, Wouter J., McGrath, John J., Visscher, Peter M. and Goddard, Michael E. (2017). Risk of psychiatric illness from advanced paternal age is not predominantly from de novo mutations. Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey, 72 (2), 96-96. doi: 10.1097/01.OGX.0000512485.13448.C7
2017
Journal Article
Association of body mass index with DNA methylation and gene expression in blood cells and relations to cardiometabolic disease: a Mendelian randomization approach
Mendelson, Michael M., Marioni, Riccardo E., Joehanes, Roby, Liu, Chunyu, Hedman, Åsa K., Aslibekyan, Stella, Demerath, Ellen W., Guan, Weihua, Zhi, Degui, Yao, Chen, Huan, Tianxiao, Willinger, Christine, Chen, Brian, Courchesne, Paul, Multhaup, Michael, Irvin, Marguerite R., Cohain, Ariella, Schadt, Eric E., Grove, Megan L., Bressler, Jan, North, Kari, Sundstrom, Johan, Gustafsson, Stefan, Shah, Sonia, McRae, Allan F., Harris, Sarah E., Gibson, Jude, Redmond, Paul, Corley, Janie ... Deary, Ian J. (2017). Association of body mass index with DNA methylation and gene expression in blood cells and relations to cardiometabolic disease: a Mendelian randomization approach. PLoS Medicine, 14 (1) e1002215, e1002215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002215
2017
Conference Publication
The potential impact of falsely classified controls on the SNP-based heritability of depression
Peyrot, Wouter J., Penninx, Brenda and Wray, Naomi (2017). The potential impact of falsely classified controls on the SNP-based heritability of depression. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Multivariate polygenic risk scores increases accuracy of risk prediction for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder
Maier, Robert, Wray, Naomi, Robinson, Matt and Lee, Sang Hong (2017). Multivariate polygenic risk scores increases accuracy of risk prediction for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Genetic architecture insights from joint investigations of rare CNVS and common SNPS
Bergen, Sarah, Kendler, Kenneth and Wray, Naomi (2017). Genetic architecture insights from joint investigations of rare CNVS and common SNPS. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Journal Article
Contribution of copy number variants to schizophrenia from a genome-wide study of 41,321 subjects
Marshall, Christian R., Howrigan, Daniel P., Merico, Daniele, Thiruvahindrapuram, Bhooma, Wu, Wenting, Greer, Douglas S., Antaki, Danny, Shetty, Aniket, Holmans, Peter A., Pinto, Dalila, Gujral, Madhusudan, Brandler, William M., Malhotra, Dheeraj, Wang, Zhouzhi, Fuentes Fajarado, Karin V., Maile, Michelle S., Ripke, Stephan, Agartz, Ingrid, Albus, Margot, Alexander, Madeline, Amin, Farooq, Atkins, Joshua, Bacanu, Silviu A., Belliveau, Richard A., Jr., Bergen, Sarah E., Bertalan, Marcelo, Bevilacqua, Elizabeth, Bigdeli, Tim B., Black, Donald W. ... Sebat, Jonathan (2017). Contribution of copy number variants to schizophrenia from a genome-wide study of 41,321 subjects. Nature Genetics, 49 (1), 27-35. doi: 10.1038/ng.3725
2017
Conference Publication
Multivariate genetic risk scores increase accuracy of risk prediction for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder
Maier, Robert, Wray, Naomi and Lee, Sang Hong (2017). Multivariate genetic risk scores increase accuracy of risk prediction for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Evidence for genetic overlap between schizophrenia and maternal age at first birth
Mehta, Divya, Tropf, Felix, Gratten, Jacob, Bacanu, Silviu, Bakshi, Andrew, Mowry, Bryan, Kendler, Kenneth, Yang, Jian, Visscher, Peter, McGrath, John, Mills, Melinda, Wray, Naomi and Lee, Sang Hong (2017). Evidence for genetic overlap between schizophrenia and maternal age at first birth. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto, ON, Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.09.010
2017
Conference Publication
Comparison of Faecal Microbe Diversity Between Motor Neurone Disease (Mnd) and Control Participants
Steyn, Frederik J., Restuadi, Restuadi, Ioannides, Zara, Ngo, Shyuan T., McRae, Allan, Wray, Naomi R., Henderson, Robert and McCombe, Pamela (2017). Comparison of Faecal Microbe Diversity Between Motor Neurone Disease (Mnd) and Control Participants. Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian-and-New-Zealand-Association-of-Neurologists (ANZAN), Gold Coast, Australia, 9-12 May 2017. London, United Kingdom: BMJ. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2017-316074.81
2017
Conference Publication
Genome-wide association study in an Indian population reveals genetic overlap for schizophrenia with Europeans
Vinkhuyzen, Anna, John, Sujit, Periyasamy, Sathish, Wray, Naomi, Thara, Rangaswamy and Mowry, Bryan (2017). Genome-wide association study in an Indian population reveals genetic overlap for schizophrenia with Europeans. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
High loading of polygenic risk in cases with chronic schizophrenia
Meier, Sandra, Agerbo, Esben, Maier, Robert, Pedersen, Carsten B., Lang, Maren, Ripke, Stephan, Werge, Thomas, Mors, Ole, Hougaard, David, Borglum, Anders, Wray, Naomi, Rietschel, Marcella, Nordentoft, Merete, Mortensen, Preben Bo and Mattheisen, Manuel (2017). High loading of polygenic risk in cases with chronic schizophrenia. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Polygenic score methodology in psychiatric genetics
O'Reilly, Paul, Wray, Naomi and Breen, Gerome (2017). Polygenic score methodology in psychiatric genetics. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
2017
Conference Publication
Characterizing an inverse axis between orthogonal sources of genetic risk
Davis, Lea, Lee, Sang Hong, Gamazon, Eric, Im, Hae Kyung, Yu, Dongmei, McGrath, Lauren, Williams, Stephanie, Cook, Edwin, Sullivan, Patrick, Sutcliffe, James, Knowles, James, Mathews, Carol, Scharf, Jeremiah, Wray, Naomi and Cox, Nancy (2017). Characterizing an inverse axis between orthogonal sources of genetic risk. 23rd Annual World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Toronto, Canada, 16-20 October 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Naomi Wray is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
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
-
Doctor Philosophy
Genetics of childhood onset psychiatric symptoms, their persistence and comorbidity with other traits
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
Completed supervision
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2025
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
-
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
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The Genomics of Perinatal Depression
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
-
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
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the influence of genetics and heritability on the heterogeneity of ADHD presentations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Honorary Professor Sarah Medland
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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
-
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
-
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
Media
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