Dr Derek Morris is a geneticist and his area of expertise is the identification of risk genes for psychiatric disorders. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Biotechnology from the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway in 1998. In 2001, he completed his PhD in molecular genetics at Cardiff University. He subsequently joined the Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as a research fellow, was awarded a Health Research Board Postdoctoral Career Development Research Fellowship in 2003 and was appointed Lecturer in Molecular Psychiatry in 2006. Using Science Foundation Ireland funding, he set up TrinSeq, the first next-generation sequencing lab in Ireland in 2008. In 2013, Dr Morris moved to NUI Galway where he is Lecturer in Biomedical Science and a PI in the Neuroimaging and Cognitive Genomics (a target=_blank rel=nofollow href=http:www.nuigalway.ienicogNICOG ) Centre. His group has built on the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) by taking new risk genes forward for in-depth phenotypic analysis to understand how they contribute to abnormal brain function and illness. Genetic studies in the areas of epigenetic regulation, cognition, neuroimaging and numerous collaborations have produced a series of senior author manuscripts for Dr Morris in high impact psychiatry journals (e.g. Molecular Psychiatry , Biological Psychiatry) and genetics journals (e.g. American Journal of Human Genetics , Human Molecular Genetics ). Dr Morris is involved in international consortia undertaking GWAS that have identified new risk genes for psychosis and related phneotypes. This high-profile work has resulted in multiple Public - No restrictionations in Nature, Science and Cell . Involvement in these consortia has helped him establish a world-wide network of collaborators. In total, Dr Morris has 221 peer-reviewed Public - No restrictionations (29 as first or senior author) that have generated 39,227 citations (29,255 since 2015) and his h index is 76 (Google Scholar 2020). Dr Morris is a former President of the Irish Society of Human Genetics (2014-16). He was awarded the NUIG Presidents Award for Research Excellence in 2017 and was ranked in the top 1% of Highly Cited Researchers for 2018 (Clarivate Analytics).

My research focus is in the development of new gene discovery methods and their application to the identification of risk genes for complex disorders including psychosis. I have made a significant contribution to many recent key discoveries, made possible by the availability of new genomics technologies and the pooling together of clinical sample resources by international research consortia. This high-profile work has, to date, resulted in 5 Public - No restrictionations in Nature and 9 in Nature Genetics. Of 19 senior author Public - No restrictionations, 8 are in high impact factor (IF) psychiatry and genetics journals (Molecular Psychiatry (IF=14.9), American Journal of Human Genetics (IF=11.2), Biological Psychiatry (IF=9.2), Human Molecular Genetics (IF=7.7). In total, I have 150 peer-reviewed Public - No restrictionations (113 since 2010) that have generated 8,184 citations (7,017 since 2010), my h index is 34 (Scopus, June 2015). font color=#000000font face=Calibrip align=justify class=MsoNormal style=margin: 0cm 0cm 10ptspan style=font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%Since moving to NUI Galway (NUIG) in late 2013, I have established, am a PI and lead the genetics studies with the Centre for Neuroimaging and Cognitive Genomics (NICOG). We draw on neuropsychological, electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to investigate the function of risk genes for psychosis at the level of individual brain systems. This research is aimed at achieving a better understanding of the biological basis of psychosis, to inform new methods of diagnosis and therapy. My research activity within NICOG focuses on epigenetic regulation of gene expression as a risk mechanism for schizophrenia. I also coordinates study design and the management of biosample resources and genetics data used for ongoing studies. p align=justify class=MsoNormal style=margin: 0cm 0cm 10ptspan style=font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%Prior to working in NUIG, I was based at Trinity College Dublin where in 2008, I established TrinSeq as a next-generation sequencing (NGS) core facility, the first in Ireland. The purpose of setting up this lab was: (i) To develop my own expertise and independent research identity in this area. (ii) To make this vital new technology available to Irish researchers on a collaborative basis for novel molecular biology and genetics research. This lab has already supported gt;60 projects from all Irish universities and I have national reputation in this area. p align=justify class=MsoNormalfont color=#000000font face=CalibriMy reason for setting up the lab was that I expected, post-GWAS, that NGS would be the next major technology driver of new discoveries in complex genetic disorders. This has proved to be the case and psychiatric genetics has now entered a phase of rare mutation discovery and soon epigenetic studies that are powered by NGS. I have been able to secure my own PI funding from the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland to develop my own international reputation in this area. p align=justify class=MsoNormalfont color=#000000font face=CalibriIn the last 10 years, I won 2.55M in grant funding as a Principal Applicant (1.67M) and as a Co-ApplicantCollaborator (0.88M) from grants that total 7.5M. p align=justify class=MsoNormalfont color=#000000 face=CalibriI have presented at multiple international meetings and in 2010 organized and presented at a Plenary Symposium entitled Next Generation Sequencing in Psychiatric Genetics at the World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics in Athens. I review articles for multiple international journals and am an Associate Editor for BMC Psychiatry. I have reviewed grant applications for a number of international sponsors (e.g. Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (UK)). I am currently President of the Irish Society of Human Genetics.