Genes, circuits, behaviour: from psychiatry to personalised medicine

Dr. Anirvan Ghosh (Global Head, Neuroscience Discovery and Biomarkers, Roche, Switzerland) explains how genetic risks may lead to brain disorders. As such, Dr. Ghosh and Roche are driven to study genetics in order to develop the next generation of medicine and precision treatment for psychiatric disorders.

About speaker:
Dr. Anirvan Ghosh received his BS in Physics from Caltech, his PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University and did his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School. He was on the faculty at The John Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1995-2003 prior to moving to University of California, San Diego as the Stephen Kuffler Professor of Biology. He served as Chair of the department from 2008 to 2011.

In 2011 Dr. Ghosh joined Roche as Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery. In this capacity he heads the Neuroscience research and drug discovery effort from Target Identification to Entry into Human, with major programs in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Schizophrenia. Since 2012 he also serves as Head of the Biomarkers and Clinical Imaging group in the Neuroscience therapeutic area.

In addition to leading Neuroscience drug discovery programs at Roche, Dr. Ghosh heads research labs in Basel and San Diego. Research in Dr. Ghosh's lab is focused on understanding how the connections in the brain are established during development and how they may be affected in neurodevelopmental disorders. Major contributions from his lab have included the identification of activity-dependent transcription actors that regulate neuronal development and the discovery of Leucine Rich Repeat (LRR) proteins as key regulators of synapse formation and function.

He is recipient of several awards including the Pew Scholar Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award, and the UCSD Revelle College Outstanding Faculty Award.