Skip to main content

Patrick Sullivan, MD, FRANZCP

Ray M. Hayworth & Family Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry UNC Professor of Genetics and Psychiatry Director, Center for Psychiatric Genomics Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Patrick Sullivan is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Genetics and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also Professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a founder and the lead principal investigator of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium as well as a Swedish national complex trait consortium and its extension to Denmark and Norway (focusing on psychiatric disorders). His labs investigate the molecular genetics of schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (including post-partum depression), and eating disorders. He has an outstanding track record of training post-docs and in advancing them to faculty positions and independent R01 funding. Dr Sullivan has 433 total publications including 375 papers (peer-reviewed: published, in press, or submitted) and 58 other contributions (reviews, editorials, comments, invited manuscripts, or chapters). Google Scholar h-index 114. In the past 10 years, essentially all of his empirical papers have had trainees as co-authors.

Research Interests

Key words: complex traits in humans, psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenetics, schizophrenia, major depression, eating disorders

The Sullivan lab aims to understand the genetic and epidemiological basis of a number of important public-health problems. These disorders are etiologically heterogeneous and exhibit complex patterns of inheritance. Developing an understanding of these disorders requires the integration of findings from multiple investigative approaches such as epidemiology, linkage analysis, and association studies. The lab applies these methods to several research areas:

Schizophrenia

This is a chronic and debilitating mental disorder that affects approximately 1% of the human population. Although it is clear that genetics plays a role in schizophrenia, specific genes that have a causal role in the disease have yet to be identified. The Sullivan lab is conducting a series of studies to elucidate its etiology. In addition, pharmacogenetic studies are underway to determine the mechanism of action of antipsychotic drugs that are currently used to treat some of the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Mentor Training:

 

Publications

Patrick Sullivan in UNC Genetics News

Patrick Sullivan

  • Phone Number

    (Office Phone)

  • Address

    5097 Genetic Medicine Bldg

    CB#7264

    Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7264