Genetic and environmental variation affects all complex human traits and disorders. However, which variants affect us and how they have their effects depends on the environmental and developmental context. For example, some genetic effects may be apparent only in childhood, or only in the centre of large cities. New to UCL in 2013, our lab collects, analyses and visualizes data from large population samples around the world to explore the dynamic relationship between genotype and phenotype in humans.

We use approaches including twin model-fitting and genome-wide analysis in samples such as the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) of 10,000 pairs of UK twins (http://www.teds.ac.uk), as well as developing our own new statistical and visual analysis approaches to big data. Recent projects from the lab include studies showing increasing genetic influence across time for cognitive abilities, and the spACE project which is mapping the UK’s genetic and environmental hotspots: http://bit.ly/tedsgeo.