The Genetic Epidemiology of Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Disorders: Multiple Levels, Interactions and Causal Loops
"Since it is unlikely that we can identify a single causal level at which we can define our disorders etiologically, I explore the dappled causal world for psychiatric disorders, through an examination of psychiatric and other literature. I will suggest three primary and progressive goals for psychiatric research: to populate our causal space, to develop multilevel causal mechanisms, and to integrate the resulting neurobiological models with psychological explanations. I will consider how we might best conceptualise psychiatric disorders, and propose a new framework for how their classification might best move forward in time. "
Oxford Loebel Lectures 2014 part 2
http://www.loebelprogramme.ox.ac.uk/lectures
Professor Kendler was trained in medicine and psychiatry at Stanford and Yale Universities, respectively. Since 1983, he has been engaged in studies of the genetics of psychiatric and substance use disorders, including schizophrenia, major depression, alcoholism, personality disorders and drug abuse and dependence. He has utilized methods ranging from family studies to large-sample population-based twin and adoption studies to molecular genetic studies including linkage, association, GWAS and sequencing aimed at identifying specific genes that influence the vulnerability to a range of psychiatric conditions. Data collection for these studies has been completed in Virginia, Ireland, England, China, Norway, Finland and Sweden. He has published over 800 articles, has received a number of national and international awards for his work, is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and is Editor of Psychological Medicine. He has been actively involved in DSM-III-R, DSM-IV and DSM-5 where he chaired the Scientific Review Committee. Since 1996, he has served as Director of the Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.
In the last decade or so, Professor Kendler’s research interests have broadened to encompass philosophical issues in psychiatry. Of particular relevance to OLLRP, he has published numerous articles on the relationship between biological, psychological, and social contributors to mental illness. He has also co-edited a series of books entitled Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry. His work in this area was recognised in his 2012 appointment to the Edwin R. Wallace IV Lectureship in the Philosophy of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis.
Oxford Martin School,
University of Oxford
www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk
