Derek Morris is Professor of Human Genetics and Genomics at the University of Galway, where he has led his research group since 2013 within the the Centre for Neuroimaging, Cognition and Genomics (NICOG). Previously, he obtained his BSc in Biotechnology at University of Galway (1998) and his PhD in Molecular Genetics at Cardiff University (2001) before securing a postdoctoral fellowship (2003) and then appointment as Lecturer in Molecular Psychiatry (2006) at Trinity College Dublin. Prof. Morris’ area of expertise is the identification of risk genes for psychiatric disorders through GWAS analysis of common variants and exome sequencing analysis of rare variants, with a particular focus on genes that encode transcription factors key to neurodevelopment and cognitive function. He has >270 publications including >40 as first/senior author and he has secured >€4M in funding for his group. He is involved in international consortia undertaking genetic studies of psychiatric disorders that have been published in Nature, Science and Cell. Prof. Morris is a former President of the Irish Society of Human Genetics (2014-16) and a former Director of the Galway Neuroscience Centre (2021-22). He was awarded the University of Galway President’s Award for Research Excellence in 2017 and was ranked in the top 1% of Highly Cited Researchers for 2018 (Clarivate Analytics). He was the first Programme Director for the BSc in Genetics and Genomics at University of Galway, which he helped establish as a new course in 2020.

Key Achievements in the Generation of Knowledge

1. Common genetic variants in psychiatric disorders. The achievement has been over 15 years of genome-wide association studies (GWAS)-based research that has revealed the role of common DNA variants in multiple mental health disorders and related brain traits. My role began firstly as a contributor of samples and then as an analyst in the International Schizophrenia Consortium (ISC). The ISC evolved into the current Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) where I am a member of the Schizophrenia Working Group and currently lead the Cognition sub-group. I was a lead PI in the Irish Schizophrenia Genomics Consortium that produced an Irish GWAS in collaboration with Wellcome. This has been important research because it has uncovered the genetic basis of these disorders and traits. The benefit to the field has been a new genetic basis for studies of brain function, which my group has achieved through studies of neurocognitive and neuroimaging data and cellular gene knockout models, and large freely available results datasets that can be exploited to address specific questions and method development. The impact has been to improve Ireland’s international reputation for excellent research in genetics and to leverage new grant funding for my group.
2. Transcription factor genes in neurodevelopmental phenotypes. The achievement is new knowledge about the role of genes that encode transcription factor proteins in schizophrenia, autism and cognitive ability. My role has been to lead this research and deliver multiple publications over the last 10 years, plus secure funding for this research and build collaborations. This has been important research because it demonstrates that GWAS can be exploited to gain biological insights about brain disease. The benefit to the field has been new knowledge on the genes, pathways and cell types that regulate brain development. The impact in addition to international engagement has been new non-exchequer funding for my group (NARSAD (USA) Independent Investigator Award 2017).

Genetics and Genomics