
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
2020
Journal Article
A phenome-wide association and Mendelian Randomisation study of polygenic risk for depression in UK Biobank
Shen, Xueyi, Howard, David M., Adams, Mark J., Hill, W. David, Clarke, Toni-Kim, Adams, Mark J., Clarke, Toni-Kim, McIntosh, Andrew M., Deary, Ian J., 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., Bryois, Julien, Buttenschøn, Henriette N., Bybjerg-Grauholm, Jonas, Cai, Na, Castelao, Enrique, Christensen, Jane Hvarregaard ... McIntosh, Andrew M. (2020). A phenome-wide association and Mendelian Randomisation study of polygenic risk for depression in UK Biobank. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 2301. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16022-0
2020
Journal Article
Bayesian reassessment of the epigenetic architecture of complex traits
Trejo Banos, Daniel, McCartney, Daniel L., Patxot, Marion, Anchieri, Lucas, Battram, Thomas, Christiansen, Colette, Costeira, Ricardo, Walker, Rosie M., Morris, Stewart W., Campbell, Archie, Zhang, Qian, Porteous, David J., McRae, Allan F., Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., Haley, Chris S., Evans, Kathryn L., Deary, Ian J., McIntosh, Andrew M., Hemani, Gibran, Bell, Jordana T., Marioni, Riccardo E. and Robinson, Matthew R. (2020). Bayesian reassessment of the epigenetic architecture of complex traits. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 2865, 2865. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16520-1
2020
Journal Article
Rare variant burden analysis within enhancers identifies CAV1 as an ALS risk gene
Cooper-Knock, Johnathan, Zhang, Sai, Kenna, Kevin P., Moll, Tobias, Franklin, John P., Allen, Samantha, Nezhad, Helia Ghahremani, Iacoangeli, Alfredo, Yacovzada, Nancy Y., Eitan, Chen, Hornstein, Eran, Ehilak, Eran, Celadova, Petra, Bose, Daniel, Farhan, Sali, Fishilevich, Simon, Lancet, Doron, Morrison, Karen E., Shaw, Christopher E., Al-Chalabi, Ammar, Blair, Ian, Wray, Naomi, Kiernan, Matthew, Neto, Miguel Mitne, Chio, Adriano, Cauchi, Ruben, Robberecht, Wim, van Damme, Philip, Corcia, Phillippe ... Shaw, Pamela J. (2020). Rare variant burden analysis within enhancers identifies CAV1 as an ALS risk gene. Cell Reports, 33 (9) 108456, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108456
2020
Other Outputs
Leveraging both individual-level genetic data and GWAS summary statistics increases polygenic prediction
Albiñana, Clara, Grove, Jakob, McGrath, John J., Agerbo, Esben, Wray, Naomi R., Werge, Thomas, Børglum, Anders D., Mortensen, Preben Bo, Privé, Florian and Vilhjálmsson, Bjarni J. (2020). Leveraging both individual-level genetic data and GWAS summary statistics increases polygenic prediction. doi: 10.1101/2020.11.27.401141
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
Genome-wide meta-analysis finds the ACSL5-ZDHHC6 locus is associated with ALS and links weight loss to the disease genetics
Iacoangeli, Alfredo, Lin, Tian, Al Khleifat, Ahmad, Jones, Ashley R., Opie-Martin, Sarah, Coleman, Jonathan R.I., Shatunov, Aleksey, Sproviero, William, Williams, Kelly L., Garton, Fleur, Restuadi, Restuadi, Henders, Anjali K., Mather, Karen A., Needham, Merilee, Mathers, Susan, Nicholson, Garth A., Rowe, Dominic B., Henderson, Robert, McCombe, Pamela A., Pamphlett, Roger, Blair, Ian P., Schultz, David, Sachdev, Perminder S., Newhouse, Stephen J., Proitsi, Petroula, Fogh, Isabella, Ngo, Shyuan T., Dobson, Richard J.B., Wray, Naomi R. ... Al-Chalabi, Ammar (2020). Genome-wide meta-analysis finds the ACSL5-ZDHHC6 locus is associated with ALS and links weight loss to the disease genetics. Cell Reports, 33 (4) 108323, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108323
2020
Journal Article
Cardiovascular disease, psychiatric diagnosis and sex‐differences in the multi‐step hypothesis of ALS
Garton, Fleur C., Trabjerg, Betina B., Wray, Naomi R. and Agerbo, Esben (2020). Cardiovascular disease, psychiatric diagnosis and sex‐differences in the multi‐step hypothesis of ALS. European Journal of Neurology, 28 (2) ene.14554, 421-429. doi: 10.1111/ene.14554
2020
Journal Article
Risk prediction of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease implies an oligogenic architecture
Zhang, Qian, Sidorenko, Julia, Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste, Marioni, Riccardo E., Wright, Margaret J., Goate, Alison M., Marcora, Edoardo, Huang, Kuan-lin, Porter, Tenielle, Laws, Simon M., Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study, Sachdev, Perminder S., Mather, Karen A., Armstrong, Nicola J., Thalamuthu, Anbupalam, Brodaty, Henry, Yengo, Loic, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., McRae, Allan F. and Visscher, Peter M. (2020). Risk prediction of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease implies an oligogenic architecture. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4799, 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18534-1
2020
Other Outputs
Genome-wide association study of over 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides new insights into the underlying biology
Mullins, Niamh, Forstner, Andreas J., O’Connell, Kevin S., Coombes, Brandon, Coleman, Jonathan R. I., Qiao, Zhen, Als, Thomas D., Bigdeli, Tim B., Børte, Sigrid, Bryois, Julien, Charney, Alexander W., Drange, Ole Kristian, Gandal, Michael J., Hagenaars, Saskia P., Ikeda, Masashi, Kamitaki, Nolan, Kim, Minsoo, Krebs, Kristi, Panagiotaropoulou, Georgia, Schilder, Brian M., Sloofman, Laura G., Steinberg, Stacy, Trubetskoy, Vassily, Winsvold, Bendik S., Won, Hong-Hee, Abramova, Liliya, Adorjan, Kristina, Agerbo, Esben, Al Eissa, Mariam ... Andreassen, Ole A. (2020). Genome-wide association study of over 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides new insights into the underlying biology. doi: 10.1101/2020.09.17.20187054
2020
Journal Article
Refining attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder genetic loci by integrating summary data from genome-wide association, gene expression and DNA methylation studies
Hammerschlag, Anke R., Byrne, Enda M., Bartels, Meike, Wray, Naomi R., Middeldorp, Christel M., eQTLGen Consortium, BIOS Consortium, Ahsan, Habibul, Alves, Isabel, Andiappan, Anand, Arindrarto, Wibowo, Awadalla, Philip, Battle, Alexis, Beutner, Frank, Bonder, Marc Jan, Boomsma, Dorret I., Christiansen, Mark, Claringbould, Annique, Deelen, Patrick, Esko, Tõnu, Favé, Marie-Julie, Franke, Lude, Frayling, Timothy, Gharib, Sina A., Gibson, Gregory, Heijmans, Bastiaan T., Hemani, Gibran, Jansen, Rick, Kähönen, Mika, Kalnapenkis, Anette ... Agbessi, Mawussé (2020). Refining attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder genetic loci by integrating summary data from genome-wide association, gene expression and DNA methylation studies. Biological Psychiatry, 88 (6), 470-479. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.05.002
2020
Other Outputs
A comparison of ten polygenic score methods for psychiatric disorders applied across multiple cohorts
Ni, Guiyan, Zeng, Jian, Revez, Joana A, Wang, Ying, Zheng, Zhili, Ge, Tian, Restuadi, Restuadi, Kiewa, Jacqueline, Nyholt, Dale R, Coleman, Jonathan R I, Smoller, Jordan W, Consortium, Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics, Consortium, Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics, Yang, Jian, Visscher, Peter M and Wray, Naomi R (2020). A comparison of ten polygenic score methods for psychiatric disorders applied across multiple cohorts. doi: 10.1101/2020.09.10.20192310
2020
Journal Article
Genetic control of temperament traits across species: association of autism spectrum disorder risk genes with cattle temperament
Costilla, Roy, Kemper, Kathryn E., Byrne, Enda M., Porto-Neto, Laercio R., Carvalheiro, Roberto, Purfield, Deirdre C., Doyle, Jennifer L., Berry, Donagh P., Moore, Stephen S., Wray, Naomi R. and Hayes, Ben J. (2020). Genetic control of temperament traits across species: association of autism spectrum disorder risk genes with cattle temperament. Genetics Selection Evolution, 52 (1) 51, 51. doi: 10.1186/s12711-020-00569-z
2020
Journal Article
What do we know about the variability in survival of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
McCombe, Pamela A., Garton, Fleur C., Katz, Matthew, Wray, Naomi R. and Henderson, Robert D. (2020). What do we know about the variability in survival of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 20 (9), 921-941. doi: 10.1080/14737175.2020.1785873
2020
Journal Article
Blood DNA methylation sites predict death risk in a longitudinal study of 12,300 individuals
Colicino, Elena, Marioni, Riccardo, Ward-Caviness, Cavin, Gondalia, Rahul, Guan, Weihua, Chen, Brian, Tsai, Pei-Chien, Huan, Tianxiao, Xu, Gao, Golareh, Agha, Schwartz, Joel, Vokonas, Pantel, Just, Allan, Starr, John M., McRae, Allan F., Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., Bressler, Jan, Zhang, Wen, Tanaka, Toshiko, Moore, Ann Zenobia, Pilling, Luke C., Zhang, Guosheng, Stewart, James D., Li, Yun, Hou, Lifang, Castillo-Fernandez, Juan, Spector, Tim, Kiel, Douglas P. ... Baccarelli, Andrea (2020). Blood DNA methylation sites predict death risk in a longitudinal study of 12,300 individuals. Aging, 12 (14), 14092-14124. doi: 10.18632/aging.103408
2020
Journal Article
A unified framework for association and prediction from vertex‐wise grey‐matter structure
Couvy‐Duchesne, Baptiste, Strike, Lachlan T., Zhang, Futao, Holtz, Yan, Zheng, Zhili, Kemper, Kathryn E., Yengo, Loic, Colliot, Olivier, Wright, Margaret J., Wray, Naomi R., Yang, Jian and Visscher, Peter M. (2020). A unified framework for association and prediction from vertex‐wise grey‐matter structure. Human Brain Mapping, 41 (14) hbm.25109, 4062-4076. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25109
2020
Journal Article
Genetic comorbidity between major depression and cardio‐metabolic traits, stratified by age at onset of major depression
Hagenaars, Saskia P., Coleman, Jonathan R. I., Choi, Shing Wan, Gaspar, Héléna, Adams, Mark J., Howard, David M., Hodgson, Karen, Traylor, Matthew, Air, Tracy M., Andlauer, Till F. M., Arolt, Volker, Baune, Bernhard T., Binder, Elisabeth B., Blackwood, Douglas H. R., Boomsma, Dorret I., Campbell, Archie, Cearns, Micah, Czamara, Darina, Dannlowski, Udo, Domschke, Katharina, de Geus, Eco J. C., Hamilton, Steven P., Hayward, Caroline, Hickie, Ian B., Hottenga, Jouke Jan, Ising, Marcus, Jones, Ian, Jones, Lisa, Kutalik, Zoltan ... Lewis, Cathryn M. (2020). Genetic comorbidity between major depression and cardio‐metabolic traits, stratified by age at onset of major depression. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 183 (6) ajmg.b.32807, 309-330. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32807
2020
Journal Article
Multi-method genome- and epigenome-wide studies of inflammatory protein levels in healthy older adults
Hillary, Robert F., Trejo-Banos, Daniel, Kousathanas, Athanasios, McCartney, Daniel L., Harris, Sarah E., Stevenson, Anna J., Patxot, Marion, Ojavee, Sven Erik, Zhang, Qian, Liewald, David C., Ritchie, Craig W., Evans, Kathryn L., Tucker-Drob, Elliot M., Wray, Naomi R., McRae, Allan F., Visscher, Peter M., Deary, Ian J., Robinson, Matthew R. and Marioni, Riccardo E. (2020). Multi-method genome- and epigenome-wide studies of inflammatory protein levels in healthy older adults. Genome Medicine, 12 (1) 60, 60. doi: 10.1186/s13073-020-00754-1
2020
Other Outputs
Genome-wide analyses of behavioural traits biased by misreports and longitudinal changes
Xue, Angli, Jiang, Longda, Zhu, Zhihong, Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and Yang, Jian (2020). Genome-wide analyses of behavioural traits biased by misreports and longitudinal changes. doi: 10.1101/2020.06.15.20131284
2020
Journal Article
Mutations in heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1) are associated with a range of clinical phenotypes related to different patterns of motor neuron dysfunction: a case series
Katz, Matthew, Davis, Mark, Garton, Fleur C., Henderson, Robert, Bharti, Vanda, Wray, Naomi and McCombe, Pamela (2020). Mutations in heat shock protein beta-1 (HSPB1) are associated with a range of clinical phenotypes related to different patterns of motor neuron dysfunction: a case series. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 413 116809, 116809. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2020.116809
2020
Journal Article
Cohort profile: the Australian genetics of depression study
Byrne, Enda M., Kirk, Katherine M., Medland, Sarah E., McGrath, John J., Colodro-Conde, Lucia, Parker, Richard, Cross, Simone, Sullivan, Lenore, Statham, Dixie J., Levinson, Douglas F., Licinio, Julio, Wray, Naomi R, Hickie, Ian B. and Martin, Nicholas G. (2020). Cohort profile: the Australian genetics of depression study. BMJ Open, 10 (5) e032580, e032580. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032580
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
ELUCIDATING LIFESTYLE AND GENETIC FACTORS UNDERLYING DEPRESSION HETEROGENEITY AND TREATMENT RESPONSE
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Enda Byrne
-
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
-
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
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: