Associate Professor Margie Wright is head of our Imaging Genomics Group at the Queensland Brain Institute and Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland.
Her research focuses on the neurobiological causes and modifiers of cognitive function associated with development, including ageing, and, especially brain disorders. Much of this work takes a multi-method approach using neuroimaging (SMRI, dMRI, task and resting state fMRI) and cutting-edge techniques to interrogate brain images in key periods (e.g. adolescence) and across the lifespan in twin and non-twin cohorts, as well as neuropsychological tests, and behavioural and molecular genetic approaches.
Flinders University, Adelaide, SA
PhD in Human Physiology
University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ
BSc Hons. First Class in Neurophysiology
Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures
Identification of common variants associated with human hippocampal and intracranial volumes
Heritability of working memory brain activation
Genetics of white matter development: A DTI study of 705 twins and their siblings aged 12 to 29
View all publicationsEmail: [email protected]
Tel: +61 7 334 63112
Narelle completed a Bachelor of Arts (double major in psychology), followed by first class Honours in psychology, at the University of Queensland. Her PhD was based at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (now known as QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute), where she merged her interest in psychology with that of behaviour genetics to investigate genetic influences on brain function and cognitive processing. In 2003 she took a postdoctoral position with QIMR Berghofer where her work focussed on the genetic analysis of twin data and explored the extent of genetic and environmental influence on multiple behavioural traits, and more recently, brain structure and function. In January 2016 she took up a position as Research Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute to work with A/Prof Margie Wright on a longitudinal twin study exploring neurodevelopment during early adolescence.
University of Queensland
PhD in the field of psychology (2003)
University of Queensland
BA (Hons) Psychology (1997)
Genome-wide association study of working memory brain activation.
The effect of increased genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease on hippocampal and amygdala volume.
Heritability of the network architecture of intrinsic brain functional connectivity.
Genetic basis of a cognitive complexity metric.
Genetics and brain morphology.
Genetic architecture of subcortical brain regions: common and region-specific genetic contributions.
Childhood intelligence is heritable, highly polygenic and associated with FNBP1L.
Email: [email protected]
Building: Ritchie Research Laboratories, #64A
Room: 212
Lachlan’s Phd was conferred in 2018. He is continuing on in the lab as a postdoctoral research fellow.
Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons), The University of Queensland
Email: [email protected]
Victoria commenced her PhD studies in 2018. She is investigating the effects of depressive symptoms and sleep problems on the brain.
Bachelor of Science (Hons I), The University of Queensland
Islay commenced her PhD studies with us in 2018.
BSc (Hons 1) Psychology, The University of Queensland
Master of IT, Queensland University of Technology
BA (Japanese), Griffith University
CELTA (Cert. in English Language Teaching to Adults)
Email: [email protected]
After completing a Bachelor of Psychology, Liza did a Research Master in Cognitive Neuropsychology. At the moment, she is doing her PhD in Psychology at the University of Queensland focusing on sex differences in the brain. She is involved in Margie Wright’s Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain project at the Queensland Brain Institute. For more information about this study see ‘Featured Projects’ – ‘QTAB’.
VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Research Master in Cognitive Neuropsychology
Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Bachelor in Psychology
Email: [email protected]
Jessica graduated with a Bachelor of Psychological Science from the University of Queensland. She is currently involved in several projects run by the Wright Group within the Queensland Brain Institute, including the Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain Project and the ‘Imagine Cerebral Palsy’ Genome and Connectome Study. For more information about these projects, please visit our ‘Featured Projects’ section.
The University of Queensland
Bachelor of Psychological Science
Coming soon …
Email: [email protected]
Zoie joined the lab in 2017. She is currently involved with the collection of brain scans in the QTAB project.
Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons), The University of Queensland
Email: [email protected]
Baptiste’s PhD (Breaking down the genetics of depression using brain endophenotypes) was awarded in 2017. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
Daniel’s PhD (Individual differences in taste and their association with genes, dietary behaviour, and brain structure) was conferred in 2018. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Translational Research Institute.
Michelle was previously a postdoctoral research fellow in the lab. She is currently a senior research officer at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
Phoebe completed Honours with us in 2017. She is currently a PhD student at the Queensland Brain Institute.
Summer/Winter Research Scholars
Winter 2018
Ethan Campi
Rohit Haldar
Summer 2017/2018
Ethan Campi
Daniel How
Winter 2017
Gurbinder Kaur
Summer 2016/2017
Phoebe Mayne
Victoria O’Callaghan
Schwanagorn Sirirat
Vanessa Yiwen Lo
Sishu Zhou
Summer 2015/2016
Tom Changlai
