
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
-
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
2013
Journal Article
Partitioning the Heritability of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Reveals Differences in Genetic Architecture
Davis, Lea K., Yu, Dongmei, Keenan, Clare L., Gamazon, Eric R., Konkashbaev, Anuar I., Derks, Eske M., Neale, Benjamin M., Yang, Jian, Lee, S. Hong, Evans, Patrick, Barr, Cathy L., Bellodi, Laura, Benarroch, Fortu, Berrio, Gabriel Bedoya, Bienvenu, Oscar J., Bloch, Michael H., Blom, Rianne M., Bruun, Ruth D., Budman, Cathy L., Camarena, Beatriz, Campbell, Desmond, Cappi, Carolina, Cardona Silgado, Julio C., Cath, Danielle C., Cavallini, Maria C., Chavira, Denise A., Chouinard, Sylvain, Conti, David V, Cook, Edwin H ... Scharf, Jeremiah M. (2013). Partitioning the Heritability of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Reveals Differences in Genetic Architecture. PLoS Genetics, 9 (10) e1003864, e1003864.1-e1003864.14. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003864
2012
Conference Publication
Additive genetic variation in risk to schizophrenia across African American and European American populations
de Candia, Teresa, Lee, Hong, Yang, Jian, Browning, Brian, Gejman, Pablo, Levinson, Douglas, Hewitt, John, Visscher, Peter, Wray, Naomi and Keller, Matthew (2012). Additive genetic variation in risk to schizophrenia across African American and European American populations. 42nd Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association, Edinburgh Scotland, Jun 22-25, 2012.
2012
Journal Article
Multi-locus genome-wide association analysis supports the role of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the etiology of major depressive disorder
Lee, P. H., Perlis, R. H., Jung, J-Y, Byrne, E. M., Rueckert, E., Siburian, R., Haddad, S., Mayerfeld, C. E., Heath, A. C., Pergadia, M. L., Madden, P. A. F., Boomsma, D. I., Penninx, B. W., Sklar, P., Martin, N. G., Wray, N. R., Purcell, S. M. and Smoller, J. W. (2012). Multi-locus genome-wide association analysis supports the role of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the etiology of major depressive disorder. Translational Psychiatry, 2 (11) e184, e184.1-e184.9. doi: 10.1038/tp.2012.95
2012
Journal Article
Unraveling the genetic etiology of adult antisocial behavior: a genome-wide association study
Tielbeek, Jorim J., Medland, Sarah E., Benyamin, Beben, Byrne, Enda M., Heath, Andrew C., Madden, Pamela A. F., Martin, Nicholas G., Wray, Naomi R. and Verweij, Karin J. H. (2012). Unraveling the genetic etiology of adult antisocial behavior: a genome-wide association study. PLoS One, 7 (10) e45086, e1005378-e1005378. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045086
2012
Journal Article
Estimation of pleiotropy between complex diseases using single-nucleotide polymorphism-derived genomic relationships and restricted maximum likelihood
Lee, S. H., Yang, J., Goddard, M. E., Visscher, P. M. and Wray, N. R. (2012). Estimation of pleiotropy between complex diseases using single-nucleotide polymorphism-derived genomic relationships and restricted maximum likelihood. Bioinformatics, 28 (19) bts474, 2540-2542. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bts474
2012
Journal Article
Appraisals of stressful life events as a genetically-linked mechanism in the stress-depression relationship
Conway, Christopher C., Hammen, Constance, Espejo, Emmanuel P., Wray, Naomi R., Najman, Jake M. and Brennan, Patricia A. (2012). Appraisals of stressful life events as a genetically-linked mechanism in the stress-depression relationship. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36 (4), 338-347. doi: 10.1007/s10608-011-9368-9
2012
Journal Article
Using summary data from the Danish National Registers to estimate heritabilities for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder
Wray, Naomi R. and Gottesman, Irving I. (2012). Using summary data from the Danish National Registers to estimate heritabilities for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. Frontiers in Applied Genetic Epidemiology, 3 (118) Article 118, 118. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00118
2012
Journal Article
Estimating the proportion of variation in susceptibility to schizophrenia captured by common SNPs (vol 44, pg 247, 2012)
Lee, S. Hong, DeCandia, Teresa R., Ripke, Stephan, Yang, Jian, Sullivan, Patrick F., Goddard, Michael E., Keller, Matthew C., Visscher, Peter M. and Wray, Naomi R. (2012). Estimating the proportion of variation in susceptibility to schizophrenia captured by common SNPs (vol 44, pg 247, 2012). Nature Genetics, 44 (7), 831-831. doi: 10.1038/ng0712-831a
2012
Journal Article
Impact of diagnostic misclassification on estimation of genetic correlations using genome-wide genotypes
Wray, Naomi R., Lee, Sang Hong and Kendler, Kenneth S. (2012). Impact of diagnostic misclassification on estimation of genetic correlations using genome-wide genotypes. European Journal of Human Genetics, 20 (6), 668-674. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2011.257
2012
Journal Article
Common SNPs explain some of the variation in the personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion (vol 2, e125, 2012)
Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E., Pedersen, N. L., Yang, J., Lee, S. H., Magnusson, P. K. E., Iacono, W. G., McGue, M., Madden, P. A. F., Heath, A. C., Luciano, M., Payton, A., Horan, M., Ollier, W., Pendleton, N., Deary, I. J., Montgomery, G. W., Martin, N. G., Visscher, P. M. and Wray, N. R. (2012). Common SNPs explain some of the variation in the personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion (vol 2, e125, 2012). Translational Psychiatry, 2 (5) e125, e125-e125. doi: 10.1038/tp.2012.49
2012
Journal Article
A genome-wide meta-analysis of association studies of Cloninger's Temperament Scales
Service, S. K., Verweij, K. J. H., Lahti, J., Congdon, E., Ekelund, J., Hintsanen, M., Raikkonen, K., Lehtimaki, T., Kahonen, M., Widen, E., Taanila, A., Veijola, J., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A. F., Montgomery, G. W., Sabatti, C., Jarvelin, M-R, Palotie, A., Raitakari, O., Viikari, J., Martin, N. G., Eriksson, J. G., Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L., Wray, N. R. and Freimer, N. B. (2012). A genome-wide meta-analysis of association studies of Cloninger's Temperament Scales. Translational Psychiatry, 2 (5) e116, e116-e116. doi: 10.1038/tp.2012.37
2012
Journal Article
Meta-analyses of genome-wide linkage scans of anxiety-related phenotypes
Webb, Bradley T., Guo, An-Yuan, Maher, Brion S., Zhao, Zhongming, van den Oord, Edwin J., Kendler, Kenneth S., Riley, Brien P., Gillespie, Nathan A., Prescott, Carol A., Middeldorp, Christel M., Willemsen, Gonneke, de Geus, Eco J. C., Hottenga, Jouke-Jan, Boomsma, Dorret I., Slagboom, Eline P., Wray, Naomi R., Montgomery, Grant W., Martin, Nicholas G., Wright, Margie J., Heath, Andrew C., Madden, Pamela A., Gelernter, Joel, Knowles, James A., Hamilton, Steven P., Weissman, Myrna M., Fyer, Abby J., Huezo-Diaz, Patricia, McGuffin, Peter, Farmer, Anne ... Hettema, John M. (2012). Meta-analyses of genome-wide linkage scans of anxiety-related phenotypes. European Journal of Human Genetics, 20 (10), 1078-1084. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2012.47
2012
Journal Article
Common SNPs explain some of the variation in the personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion
Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E., Pedersen, N. L., Yang, J., Lee, S. H., Magnusson, P. K. E., Iacono, W. G., McGue, M., Madden, P. A. F., Heath, A. C., Luciano, M., Payton, A., Horan, M., Ollier, W., Pendleton, N., Deary, I. J., Montgomery, G. W., Martin, N. G., Visscher, P. M. and Wray, N. R. (2012). Common SNPs explain some of the variation in the personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion. Translational Psychiatry, 2 (e102) 201227, e102-e102. doi: 10.1038/tp.2012.27
2012
Journal Article
A better coefficient of determination for genetic profile analysis
Lee, Sang Hong, Goddard, Michael E., Wray, Naomi R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2012). A better coefficient of determination for genetic profile analysis. Genetic Epidemiology, 36 (3), 214-224. doi: 10.1002/gepi.21614
2012
Journal Article
Estimating the proportion of variation in susceptibility to schizophrenia captured by common SNPs
Lee, S. Hong, DeCandia, Teresa R., Ripke, Stephan, Yang, Jian, Sullivan, Patrick F ., Goddard, Michael E ., Keller, Matthew C ., Visscher, Peter M ., Wray, Naomi R., Schizophrenia Psychiat Genome-Wide, Int Schizophrenia Consortium ISC, Mol Genetics Schizophrenia and Mowry, Bryan (2012). Estimating the proportion of variation in susceptibility to schizophrenia captured by common SNPs. Nature Genetics, 44 (3), 247-250. doi: 10.1038/ng.1108
2012
Journal Article
A bias-reducing pathway enrichment analysis of genome-wide association data confirmed association of the MHC region with schizophrenia
Jia, Peilin, Wang, Lily, Fanous, Ayman H., Chen, Xiangning, Kendler, Kenneth S., Zhao, Zhongming, Morris, Derek W., O'Dushlaine, Colm T., Kenny, Elaine, Quinn, Emma M., Gill, Michael, Corvin, Aiden, O'Donovan, Michael C., Kirov, George K., Craddock, Nick J., Holmans, Peter A., Williams, Nigel M., Georgieva, Lucy, Nikolov, Ivan, Norton, N., Williams, H., Toncheva, Draga, Milanova, Vihra, Owen, Michael J., Hultman, Christina M., Lichtenstein, Paul, Thelander, Emma F., Sullivan, Patrick, McQuillin, Andrew ... Sklar, Pamela (2012). A bias-reducing pathway enrichment analysis of genome-wide association data confirmed association of the MHC region with schizophrenia. Journal of Medical Genetics, 49 (2), 96-103. doi: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2011-100397
2012
Journal Article
Genetic co-morbidity between neuroticism, anxiety/depression and somatic distress in a population sample of adolescent and young adult twins
Hansell, N. K., Wright, M. J., Medland, S. E., Davenprot, T. A., Wray, N. R., Martin, N. G. and Hickie, I. B. (2012). Genetic co-morbidity between neuroticism, anxiety/depression and somatic distress in a population sample of adolescent and young adult twins. Psychological Medicine, 42 (6), 1249-1260. doi: 10.1017/S0033291711002431
2012
Journal Article
Don't give up on GWAS
Sullivan, P., on behalf of 96 Psychiatric Genetics Investigators, McGrath, John J., Mowry, Bryan and Wray, Naomi (2012). Don't give up on GWAS. Molecular Psychiatry, 17 (1), 2-3. doi: 10.1038/mp.2011.94
2012
Journal Article
Evidence-based psychiatric genetics, AKA the false dichotomy between common and rare variant hypotheses
Visscher, Peter, Goddard, M. E., Derks, E. M. and Wray, Naomi (2012). Evidence-based psychiatric genetics, AKA the false dichotomy between common and rare variant hypotheses. Molecular Psychiatry, 17 (5), 474-485. doi: 10.1038/mp.2011.65
2012
Journal Article
Genome-wide association study of major depressive disorder: New results, meta-analysis, and lessons learned
Wray, N. R., Pergadia, M. L., Blackwood, D. H. R., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Gordon, S. D., Nyholt, D. R., Ripke, S., MacIntyre, D. J., McGhee, K. A., MacLean, A. W., Smit, J. H., Hottenga, J. J., Willemsen, G., Middeldorp, C. M., De Geus, E. J. C., Lewis, C. M., McGuffin, P., Hickie, I. B., Van Den Oord, E. J. C. G., Liu, J. Z., MacGregor, S., McEvoy, B. P., Byrne, E. M., Medland, S. E., Statham, D. J., Henders, A. K., Heath, A. C., Montgomery, G. W., Martin, N. G. ... Sullivan, P. F. (2012). Genome-wide association study of major depressive disorder: New results, meta-analysis, and lessons learned. Molecular Psychiatry, 17 (1), 36-48. doi: 10.1038/mp.2010.109
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Naomi Wray is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
ELUCIDATING LIFESTYLE AND GENETIC FACTORS UNDERLYING DEPRESSION HETEROGENEITY AND TREATMENT RESPONSE
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
-
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
Understanding cellular and molecular heterogeneity in endometriosis using multi-omics data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Sally Mortlock, Dr Allan McRae
-
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
Genetics of childhood onset psychiatric symptoms, their persistence and comorbidity with other traits
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
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 Gerard Byrne, 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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Media
Enquiries
For media enquiries about Professor Naomi Wray's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team: