Polygenic and Poly-epigenetic prediction of Depression

Webinar Speaker:

Andrew McIntosh
Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh  

Andrew McIntosh is a clinically active psychiatrist and depression researcher. He is Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, co-chairs the Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and leads the mental health expert working group of Generation Scotland. His main research interests lie in using genomics to better understand the causes and consequences of depression.

Webinar Abstract:

Twin studies attribute some variation in liability to depression to additive genetic effects. However, the heritable component has remained difficult to elucidate due to the polygenic nature of the disorder, which is most likely influenced by many genetic loci, each with small effects. 

In this presentation, Prof. McIntosh presents the most recent meta-analysis of the genetics of depression and shows how large sample size can identify risk alleles that are robustly associated with the disease. Prof. McIntosh discusses:

• How polygenic risk scores (PRS) can be estimated and could be used to predict who in a population is most at risk of developing the disease
• How the use of PRS could lead to clearer mechanistic insight into the disorders. 
• What is the association of DNA methylation and depression and how his research is looking into using DNA methylation as a predictor of the clinical risk profile for depression in the future.