Understanding the biological basis of schizophrenia using functional genomics and personalized disease models

Tuesday, 2 June 2026, 9.30am to 10.30am

In this talk, I will present a translational research framework for mechanism-based precision psychiatry that integrates human genetics, functional genomics, patient-derived cellular models, and deep clinical phenotyping.
I will first outline how we link genetic variation to molecular, cellular, and network-level phenotypes using human iPSC-derived neuronal systems and multi-omics approaches. These models enable the identification of convergent biological mechanisms, including synaptic regulation and RNA processing, that shape neuronal activity and network dynamics.
I will then present recent efforts to connect these mechanisms to patient-level variation by leveraging deeply phenotyped clinical cohorts alongside large-scale genetic and endophenotypic datasets.
Finally, I will discuss our efforts to model excitation-inhibition (E-I) in human neuronal co-cultures and operationalize it as quantitative endophenotype to understand inter-individual differences in treatment response.
By integrating cellular models, electrophysiological and neuroimaging measures, we investigate how variability in E-I balance relates to response to antipsychotic and other psychiatric medications, including treatment resistance.
Together, this work outlines a scalable strategy to move from complex genetics to biological mechanism and ultimately toward mechanistically grounded precision psychiatry.

This seminar is hosted in person at the Department of Psychiatry, in the Seminar Room.
To join online, please use the Zoom details below.

https://zoom.us/[…]/94572787318?pwd=yQZc0eWXLehppqdtcdhbak2QTPy4V0.1

Meeting ID: 945 7278 7318

Passcode: 751629

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Ziller (University of Münster)

Series: Psychiatry Seminar Series

Venue: Department of Psychiatry - Seminar Room - Seminar Room Department of Psychiatry Headington Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7JX United Kingdom

Department: Psychiatry (Department)

Organiser: Professor Andrea Cipriani

Host: Professor Naomi Wray