معرفی
Thalia C. Eley is Professor of Developmental Behavioural Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, and directs the Emotional Development, Intervention & Treatment (EDIT) Lab. She also serves as Deputy Director of the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) and co-leads the Genetics Links to Anxiety & Depression (GLAD) Study. Her work integrates molecular genetics, twin designs and clinical psychology to understand and treat anxiety and depression.
Education
- PhD, Aetiology of emotional symptoms in childhood and adolescence: depression and anxiety in twins, University College London (1996)
- BA, University of Cambridge (1992)
Research Interests
Eley’s research centres on gene–environment interplay underlying emotional disorders. Using molecular genetics she identifies genetic markers predictive of anxiety and depression development and treatment response. Via the twin design she disentangles genetic from environmental influences on familial transmission of psychopathology. Current themes include:
- Large-scale recruitment for genetic discovery (GLAD Study, >40,000 participants)
- Intergenerational extension of TEDS (CoTEDS) to trace mental-health transmission
- Translational genomics to personalise psychological therapies
Scientific Awards & Fellowships
- James Shields Lifetime Achievement Award, International Society for Twin Studies
- Spearman Medal, British Psychological Society
- Lilly–Molecular Psychiatry Award
- MRC Career Development Award (2002)
- MRC Research Training Fellowship (1999)
Grants & Funding
Eley is Principal Investigator on multiple active grants (>£10 M total):
- TOPS (Wellcome Trust, 2025-2030): Therapeutic mechanisms & stratified interventions for anxiety
- Identifying modifiable causes and consequences of youth mental health (Wellcome Trust, 2024-2028)
- iCASE studentship (Ieso Digital Health, 2024-2028): Personalising CBT using genetics
- TEDS26 (MRC, 2021-2026): Intergenerational transmission of common mental-health conditions
Labs & Teams
She founded and directs the EDIT Lab at King’s College London, a multidisciplinary team of post-docs, PhD students and research assistants applying genetic and psychological science to improve mental-health outcomes. The lab collaborates closely with the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Anxiety Group.
