Geir Selbæk is a Professor II at the University of Oslo in the Department of Geriatric Medicine . His research focuses on dementia , neurodegenerative diseases , and aging-related mental health , with extensive work on the HUNT study —a large Norwegian population-based cohort. He investigates risk factors like depression , loneliness , metabolic health , and social determinants to understand dementia progression. Key research areas: Dementia epidemiology, geriatric mental health, neurodegenerative disease, aging, cognitive impairment Recent publications analyze AI in diagnostics, genetic risk scores, social media's role in pandemic isolation, and metabolic markers Collaborations Selbæk collaborates with international teams across Alzheimer's & Dementia , Nature Genetics , PLOS ONE , and other high-impact journals. His work integrates epidemiological data , neuropsychological testing , and molecular biology to address dementia prevention and care.
Professor Stuart L. Graham is a Professor of Ophthalmology at Macquarie Medical School and Head of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Macquarie University Faculty of Medicine. He also serves as a Visiting Professor at the Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney. With expertise in glaucoma subspecialty and electrophysiology, his research focuses on optic nerve damage mechanisms, vascular and molecular factors, neurodegenerative pathways, and neuroprotective therapies for glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. He holds a MBBS, MS, PhD, and FRANZCO. His research projects include studies on retinoid agonists for glaucoma, early diagnosis of Alzheimer's via retinal screening, and retinal vascular changes in sleep apnea. He has received prestigious awards such as the FARVO (2023), Gillies Medal (2017), and RANZCO Distinguished Service Award (2015). With 384 research outputs and 64 active projects, his work spans clinical trials, drug development, and collaborative studies. His team explores novel therapies and imaging techniques to address vision loss and neurodegenerative diseases.
Ardo van den Hout is a Professor of Statistics at the Department of Statistical Science, University College London. He holds a PhD in Social Statistics from Utrecht University (2004) and has previously worked at the MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge. His research focuses on advanced statistical methodologies including longitudinal data analysis, survival analysis, multi-state models, and applications in aging research and public health. He has authored influential works such as Multi-state Survival Models for Interval-censored Data (2017). Research Interests Development and application of multi-state models for complex health data Survival analysis techniques for interval-censored and longitudinal datasets Methodological advancements in cognitive decline and disease progression modeling Integration of socio-economic factors in health expectancy analysis Key Contributions Pioneered penalized likelihood approaches for multi-state models Developed frameworks for estimating life expectancies in health and disease Advanced methods for handling missing/misclassified data in longitudinal studies Awards Recipient of the Gopal Kanji Prize 2012 for outstanding contributions to statistics Professional Activities Maintains an active research program with collaborations across biostatistics, epidemiology, and health economics. Supervises doctoral students focusing on statistical methodologies with real-world health applications. His work frequently addresses critical questions in aging populations, cancer research, and public health policy.
Ismene Petrakis is a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Director of the Mental Health Service Line at VA Connecticut Healthcare System since 2010. She also leads the ACGME-accredited Addiction Psychiatry Residency program at Yale and serves as Principal Investigator for NIAAA- and NIDA-funded training grants . Her clinical and research focus bridges alcohol dependence , comorbid psychiatric disorders , and veterans' health . Research Pillars : Pharmacotherapies for dually diagnosed patients Neurobiological mechanisms of alcoholism PTSD-alcohol comorbidity Genetic risk in substance use Methodological Expertise : Multicenter clinical trials Neurotransmitter system analysis Population-based epidemiology Translational neuroscience Key Publications (2024-2025) : Investigations into GLP1R gene expression in kidney disease Dexmedetomidine for comorbid alcohol-PTSD Cognitive training combinations for alcohol use disorder PTSD treatment effects on neurobiological markers Chronic pain-alcohol use syndemic Collaborative Networks : Yale-Drug use, Addiction, and HIV prevention Research Scholars Neuroscience Research Training Program Collaboration with Department of Anesthesiology
Dr. Megan Skelton is a Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre (SGDP), affiliated with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. She holds a PhD in Psychology from King’s College London, funded by the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. Her research focuses on leveraging genetic data and longitudinal medical records to study anxiety, depression, and treatment responses, particularly via genome-wide association studies (GWAS), polygenic scoring, and structural equation modeling. Current projects in Prof. Thalia Eley’s EDIT Lab involve prediction modeling, GWAS meta-analyses, and medical record linkage. Education: BSc Psychology (First Class, University of Leeds), MSc Genes, Environment and Development in Psychology (Distinction, King’s College London). Research experience includes roles at the University of Leeds (2011–2017) and King’s College London (2017–present). Awards include the British Psychological Society Undergraduate Award (2014) and Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarship (2013). Key research themes include anxiety/depression comorbidity, treatment efficacy measurement, and understanding genetic influences on mental health outcomes. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health & Wellbeing) through advancements in personalized mental health care.
Tania Fernández Villa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of León. Her primary academic affiliation centers on preventive medicine and public health research within the GIIGAS (Interactions Gene-Environment-Health) research group. Her research spans nutritional epidemiology, gender studies in food systems, substance use disorders, and chronic disease prevention. Key focus areas include alcohol consumption patterns among university students (via the UniHcos cohort), sarcopenia in metabolic syndrome, breast cancer risk factors, and pandemic impacts on health behaviors. Her work integrates longitudinal cohort analysis, systematic reviews, and psychometric validation studies. Recent publications demonstrate strong trends in gender-disaggregated health research, pandemic-related behavioral shifts, and methodological innovations in dietary assessment. Her 2024-2025 output shows increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability of diets and multi-cancer risk prediction models. She serves on the editorial board of the Spanish Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, contributing to strategic planning (2020-2026) and open science initiatives. Her PhD from Universidad de Granada focused on ICT usage patterns among university students. Current projects include the UniHcos longitudinal study tracking health behaviors in Spanish university students, with particular attention to alcohol use, sleep patterns, and nutritional status. Her research group actively investigates gene-environment interactions in public health contexts.
Pekka Martikainen is a leading researcher in population health and demography, affiliated with the Population Research Unit at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki . He is also actively involved with the MaxHel Center and the Laboratory of Population Health , contributing to major research initiatives such as the Monitoring Mortality Inequalities Consortium and studies on immigrant-native health disparities. His research focuses on social and economic determinants of health and mortality over the life course, using extensive Finnish register data. Key interests include fertility and family dynamics , health inequalities , migration and health , early-life determinants of health, and behavioral factors influencing mortality. His work often explores intergenerational linkages and the role of socioeconomic status in shaping health outcomes. The most recent publications reflect a strong emphasis on mental health , genetic and social interactions , educational and occupational influences on health , and disparities in cancer and reproductive health . Studies frequently employ longitudinal, register-based designs across Nordic and European populations, highlighting cross-national comparative insights. Behavioral Determinants of Health and Mortality Costs and Gains of Postponing Parenthood Immigrant-Native Health Disparities Over the Life Course Linked Lives: Family and Socioeconomic Attainment Medically Assisted Reproduction Mortality Disparities at Subnational Level His research has been published in top journals including The Lancet , Demography , Social Science and Medicine , and European Journal of Epidemiology . He collaborates extensively with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and leads or contributes to multiple large-scale projects analyzing health and demographic trends in Finland and beyond. Martikainen’s work informs public health policy and contributes to understanding how social structures and individual behaviors interact to shape population health and longevity. He plays a central role in advancing register-based demographic research in Europe.
Donghao Lu is a Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Institute of Environmental Medicine, where he leads the Epidemiology of Women's Mental Health Lab. His research program focuses on psychiatric epidemiology with specialization in women's reproductive mental health, using large-scale population cohorts to investigate biological mechanisms and health outcomes. Primary research domains include: Risk factors and health consequences of perinatal depression and premenstrual disorders Bidirectional relationships between autoimmune diseases and mood disorders Gender disparities in mental health presentation and outcomes Cardiometabolic comorbidities in reproductive psychiatric conditions His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate strong methodological consistency, predominantly using Scandinavian national registries for longitudinal cohort designs. Research themes show progression toward understanding systemic health impacts of reproductive mood disorders, particularly cardiovascular risks and mortality. Over 90% of recent work incorporates population-level data analysis with sample sizes exceeding 10,000 participants. Laboratory focus includes integrating epidemiological methods with biomarker research to bridge obstetrics/gynecology and psychiatry. Current projects investigate inflammatory pathways in perinatal depression and genetic determinants of premenstrual disorder trajectories. The team maintains international collaborations across Scandinavia, China, and North America.
Igor Rudan is Professor of International Health and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, serving as Co-Head of the Centre for Global Health within the Usher Institute, part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. His academic position is described as a 'Personal Chair of International Health & Molecular Medicine' at the Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences. His research interests include: Genome-Wide Association Studies Genetics and Genomics Genetic Divergence Meta-Analysis Single Nucleotide Polymorphism research Systematic Reviews in global health Epidemiology of respiratory diseases Health inequalities and social determinants of health Professor Rudan's recent publications reveal a strong focus on the intersection of molecular medicine and population health. His work spans genetic epidemiology, pandemic response research, and health equity studies, with particular emphasis on understanding how genetic, social, and environmental factors interact to influence health outcomes across diverse populations. His research frequently employs large-scale genomic analyses combined with population health approaches to address global health challenges. His scientific recognition includes: NIHR Impact Prize (2025) for respiratory disease research RSE Mary Somerville Medal (2023) Professor Rudan leads and collaborates on numerous international research projects including EQUI-RESP-AFRICA (improving respiratory health outcomes in Africa), the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE-2), and documentation of the EQUIST tool's global impact. His work often involves large-scale data analysis and international collaborations across multiple continents, positioning him at the forefront of global health research that bridges molecular medicine with population-level health interventions.
Nicola Hawley is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) at the Yale School of Public Health with a secondary appointment in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University. She serves as Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation and is affiliated with the Yale Institute for Global Health and Yale Network for Global Non-Communicable Diseases. Dr. Hawley is an internationally recognized expert in maternal and child health, with particular expertise in the developmental origins of obesity and related chronic diseases. Her interdisciplinary research bridges epidemiology, anthropology, and global health to examine how early life exposures during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood shape long-term health. She employs a life-course perspective and mixed-methods approaches across cross-sectional, cohort, and randomized controlled trial designs to identify critical windows for intervention. A hallmark of her work is the integration of community-engaged and culturally responsive strategies to address maternal and child health disparities in under-resourced and Indigenous settings. Her research primarily focuses on Pacific Islander communities in Samoa, American Samoa, and the US, with additional collaborations in South Africa, Uganda, New Zealand, and the United States. Dr. Hawley's current research portfolio includes NIH- and PCORI-funded studies addressing gestational and Type 2 diabetes, prevention of excess gestational weight gain, childhood obesity, and cardiometabolic risk across generations. Her recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on Samoan health issues, including studies on genetic adaptations, sleep patterns, mental health, and food security, with a consistent focus on culturally appropriate interventions and community engagement. Yale School of Public Health Teacher of the Year (2016) As a mentor, Dr. Hawley plays a central role in training the next generation of US and global health scientists, serving as primary mentor on multiple NIH career development awards (K01, K99, F30, F31) focused on Pacific Islander health. She leads the Obesity, Lifestyle and Genetic Adaptations (OLaGA) Study Group, which uses a life course approach to understand the origins of obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases among Samoans and other Pacific Islanders. Her laboratory work emphasizes community partnerships and capacity building, with core values centered on equity, community engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and mentorship. The OLaGA Study Group is driven by the belief that innovative research should not only advance scientific understanding but lead to tangible improvement in health outcomes for all, particularly for populations often neglected in public health and genetic research.
Kushal Dey serves as an Assistant Professor in the Computational and Systems Biology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), part of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences in partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine. His research integrates statistical and machine learning approaches with genomic data to understand the regulatory architecture of complex diseases. Dr. Dey's research focuses on developing computational methods that integrate human disease genetics with functional genomics data. His work spans immune-related diseases including Alzheimer's and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as heritable cancers like breast and prostate cancer. His lab develops models to prioritize variants, genes, and cell states for disease using genetic, genomic, and perturbation data, with emphasis on causal directed graphs and benchmarking pipelines informed by disease genetics. His recent publications highlight expertise in GWAS, colocalization, spatial transcriptomics, Perturb-seq, and RNA+ATAC multiome analysis. His work frequently appears in top journals like Nature Genetics, with a focus on single-cell multi-omics approaches to understand disease mechanisms at cellular resolution. Scientific Awards: Josie Robertson Investigator (2023–2028) K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (NIH/NHGRI) (2022–2026) NIH/NHGRI Early Stage Investigator R01 (2025-2030) NCI P30 CCSG supplement – 'LLMs in cancer research' (2023-2024) Catalog Working Group Co-chair + Disease Focus Group Lead: IGVF consortium (2023-) Dr. Dey mentors several graduate students through the Weill Cornell Graduate School (WGS), including Thahmina Ali, Pretty Garcia, Karthik Guruvayurappan, Louis Liu, Sarthak Tiwari, Berk Turhan, and Harry Zhang. His lab has received multiple grants including the AWS IMAGINE Grant Children's Health Innovation Award 2024-2025 (as Project Co-lead) and PSRP Developmental Funds Awards (2025: Co-lead). The lab actively collaborates with consortia including ENCODE, ADSP, MorPhiC, and IGVF, maintaining strong ties with Columbia University, Stanford University, and Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health. The Kushal Dey Lab is part of the vibrant Tri-Institutional Research campus adjacent to Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medical College, offering a collaborative environment focused on computational genomics and disease mechanisms.
Samuli Ripatti is a Professor of Biometry at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, and Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM). He chairs the Research Council Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics and the EU H2020-funded Intervene Consortium. His research focuses on genetic variation in the Finnish population, particularly its effects on cardiometabolic diseases and cancers, with a strong emphasis on polygenic risk scores for disease prevention and early detection. His work spans Genetic risk prediction models Lipidomic and metabolomic profiling Gene-environment interactions Translational genomics Recent research highlights include 1099 plasma metabolite-disease causal analysis Genetic determinants of weight loss interventions Cardiovascular risk stratification tools Leukocyte lipid metabolism pathways He actively supervises doctoral programs in Integrative Life Science, Social Sciences, Clinical Research, and Population Health, and collaborates with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
George Hripcsak is the Vivian Beaumont Allen Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Director of Medical Informatics Services at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University. He holds affiliations with the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Data Science Institute (DSI). His expertise spans clinical informatics, electronic health records (EHRs), and medical knowledge representation standards. Hripcsak earned degrees in chemistry, medicine, and biostatistics, and is a board-certified internist. Research focuses on leveraging EHR data for clinical research and patient safety through data mining and causal inference techniques. Notable contributions include the Arden Syntax (a national standard for medical knowledge representation) and leadership in the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) network. He chairs the AMIA Standards Committee and has advised federal health informatics policies under HIPAA. His academic awards include Fellowships in the American College of Medical Informatics (1995) and New York Academy of Medicine. Current projects emphasize federated learning, genomic risk prediction, and large-scale real-world evidence analysis through initiatives like LEGEND-T2DM and All of Us Research Program. Educations: MD, Biostatistics, Chemistry Labs/Teams: OHDSI, DSI, Medical Informatics Services Grants & Funding: Not explicitly listed in provided texts
Bao-Zhu Yang is a Researcher at Yale School of Medicine , specializing in the Department of Psychiatry . With a PhD from University at Albany (2001), his work focuses on genetic mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders. Positions: Research Scientist in Psychiatry Labs: Gelernter Lab, Division of Human Genetics His research explores gene-environment interactions , admixture mapping , and comorbid substance use-depression using linkage/association methods. Supported by NIH K01 funding, he investigates genetic bases for conditions including childhood depression , alcoholism , and PTSD . Recent publications highlight: Microbiome studies in methamphetamine use disorder (2023-2025) Genetic polymorphism analyses in NGF and GABAergic pathways (2020-2024) Network approaches to nicotine-alcohol comorbidity (2019) Epigenetic research on child maltreatment effects (2020) Scientific Recognition: Young Investigator Award (2011) from NARSAD Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Active grant support includes NIH K01 career development award for gene-mapping in comorbid disorders. Collaborates with leading researchers including Joel Gelernter and Hongyu Zhao across 30+ joint publications. His work spans 15+ years with recent focus on integrative -omics approaches to addiction psychiatry. Based at 300 George St, New Haven, CT , Yang's laboratory work involves genetic epidemiology , transcriptomic integration , and neurogenetic mapping of substance use disorders.
Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, is the Waldemar von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at Yale University. She serves as Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at the Yale School of Medicine. Her leadership roles include overseeing informatics infrastructure for Yale’s academic health system and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across departments such as Medicine and the Halicioğlu Data Science Institute (previously at UCSD). Ohno-Machado holds an MD from the University of São Paulo (Brazil), an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Brazil), and a PhD in Medical Information Sciences and Computer Science from Stanford University. She has held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School, MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology Division, and the UCSD Health Department of Biomedical Informatics, where she pioneered federated learning and privacy-preserving AI methodologies. Her research focuses on predictive analytics, federated learning, quantum computing in healthcare, and blockchain applications to enhance data security. She emphasizes addressing algorithmic bias and promoting health equity through data-driven solutions. Recent work includes developing frameworks for medical device safety evaluation and guiding principles to mitigate disparities in algorithmic healthcare applications. Key achievements include the Inaugural Helen M. Ranney Award (2024), election to the National Academy of Medicine (2024), and the William W. Stead Award (2019). She has led NIH-funded informatics centers and contributed to the first large-scale clinical data-sharing initiative across five UC medical systems. Her grants span AHRQ, PCORI, NSF, and blockchain-related initiatives through the IT/NIST Challenge Award. Ohno-Machado advises on translational research strategies and mentors teams in YBIC (Yale Biomedical Informatics & Computing). Her lab collaborates globally, leveraging federated models and AI to advance personalized medicine while prioritizing patient privacy. She also chairs the OHER Awards for Yale Research Excellence, promoting interdisciplinary health equity research.
