WCPG Education Day

Dr. Na Cai is a Principal Investigator at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus in Helmholtz Munich, and an associated faculty at the Technical University of Munich School of Medicine and Health. She received her BA in Natural Sciences Tripos (Biological) from Cambridge University in 2011, and her DPhil from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in University of Oxford in 2016. Na’s research focuses on understanding how genetic variants contribute to the heterogeneous etiologies of psychiatric disorders, in particular Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), either directly or in interaction with physiological and external environments. In addition to finding statistical associations between genetic variants and psychiatric disorders in population-based datasets, Na’s lab aims to use bulk tissue, single-cell and spatial omics data from both human subjects and mouse models to elucidate the molecular pathways, tissue specificity, physiological context and environmental modulators of neuronal function that may contribute to psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Chaouch integrated the Pasteur institute in 2006 as a graduating engineer from The National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia to fulfill his graduate internship. Fascinated by the scientific research, advances in molecular biology, the available technologies and devices that he has seen in that honorable institution and highly motivated by meeting all the interesting researchers, doctors and students there, he decided to pursue his graduate studies within the same department and institution. Throughout these years he has gained large experience in the fields of parasitology, molecular biology and bioinformatics, and developed heavy sense of analysis and significant research potential. As a Postdoctoral researcher at Institut Pasteur de Tunis, he was involved as Co-PI of the several projects. For his second Post-Doc he integrated the Laboratory of BioInformatics, bioMathematics and bioStatistics (BIMS) in August 2016 as Tunisian Node Ambassador of the H3ABioNet project and active member of several Work packages. Interested in Genomics and capacity building in Bioinformatics in Africa, he joined the Psychiatric Genomics Africa in 2023. Joining PGC Africa presented an exciting opportunity to delve into the realm of psychiatric genomics.

Dr. Lerato Majara's academic journey began at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where she obtained a BSc in Medical Microbiology. She then pursued an MSc in Virology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Subsequently, she completed a PhD in Human Genetics at the University of Cape Town in 2021. Her PhD research focused on identifying common genetic variants associated with schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa population and assessing the transferability of polygenic risk scores within and across African populations. During her PhD studies in 2017, Dr. Majara joined the Global Initiative for Neuropsychiatric Genetics Education and Research (GINGER) training program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Broad Institute, completing the program in 2020.In 2021, she started her Postdoctoral Fellowship with the NeuroGAP-Psychosis study at the University of Cape Town. During this fellowship, she was awarded the Gabriel Grant from the Gabriel Foundation for her project, "Genomes from South Africa" (gnomsa). In 2023, Dr. Majara joined the Martin Lab at the Broad Institute, where she is currently pursuing postdoctoral research. She also leads the Psychiatric Genetics Consortium (PGC) Africa’s Schizophrenia Working Group.

Dr. Raymond Odokonyero is a Ugandan psychiatrist with specialized training in addictions. Raymond has worked as a clinician and lecturer at Makerere University College of Health Sciences at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, for the last twelve (12) years. He has vast experience in identifying and managing various mental disorders in his country. He has additional experience in managing mental health problems among conflict-affected populations. He is a recent graduate Fellow of Neuropsychiatric Genetics from the Harvard School of Public Health. His research interests are in substance use and HIV, genetics of mental disorders, and occupational mental health. Raymond is an orator, an author, and a public speaker. He is the Immediate President of the Uganda Psychiatric Association (UPA).

Dr. Alliey-Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and member of the South Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center where his current research is focused on genetic factors associated with dementias in the Latino population. He completed his medical degree and psychiatry residency at La Universidad del Zulia (Venezuela), postdoctoral fellowships in human genetics and psychiatric genetics at The University of Chicago. Worked as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Northwestern University and invited professor of Universidad Autónoma de Manizales (Colombia). University of Texas STARS award 2021 and NARSAD young investigator award 2012. Member of the WPA genetics section.

Dr. Viswanath is an additional professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. His primary area of research includes understanding the molecular basis of etiology and treatment response in neuropsychiatric disorders. He started his research with clinical studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and later expanded his research areas to include other major psychiatric disorders. Dr. Viswanath had a specific interest in psychiatric genetics and cellular models and completed a PhD to further his expertise in these areas. His initial training as a physician specializing in psychiatry and later as a basic researcher in human stem cells provides a unique skill set to develop and execute translational psychiatry research. He is a co-leader of a multi-institutional program which aims to build a biorepository of human induced pluripotent stem cells for serious mental illnesses in India. He also established a network of investigators in India which has the capability to become an important contributor in the field of psychiatric genetics.