Jun 15, 2022
In this episode, Dr. Andrew Cutler interviews Dr. Tiffany Greenwood about the intersection of genetics, personality traits, temperament and cognitive traits in bipolar disorder and creativity. What is psychiatric genetics? What is known about dopamine’s role in creativity? Dr. Tiffany Greenwood address these questions and much more.
Dr. Greenwood received her B.S. in Molecular Biology and her
Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from UC San Diego, with an emphasis in
psychiatric genetics. She then augmented her molecular genetic
background with postdoctoral training in applied statistical
genetics and acquired supplemental training in clinical
psychopathology through a Career Development Award from the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). She joined the
Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego in 2007 and is currently
an Associate Professor.
As the Director of the Laboratory for Psychiatric Spectrum
Research, Dr. Greenwood’s research focuses on the use of
dimensional and intermediate phenotypes, as well as clinical
subphenotypes, to reduce clinical heterogeneity and refine the
genetic signal. Such measures provide increased specificity, both
within and across diagnostic categories, as well as a better
reflection of the underlying biological processes. In this vein,
Dr. Greenwood participates in a number of large-scale
collaborations aimed at identifying genetic risk variants for
psychiatric illness, including the Consortium on the Genetics of
Schizophrenia (COGS), the Bipolar Genome Study (BiGS), and the
Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). Her research in this area
has been supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award for the
development and utilization of a customized candidate gene array
for schizophrenia and related phenotypes, as well as a K01 from the
NIMH aimed at quantifying and interpreting the overlapping and
unique aspects of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Greenwood
has served as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on a
number of University and NIH-funded grants, including a current
study exploring bipolar disorder as a dimensional phenotype
existing at the extreme of normal population variation in positive
traits, such as temperament, personality, creativity, and cognitive
flexibility. Dr. Greenwood also recently received funding for a
pilot project to implement a comprehensive screening and risk
assessment program at UC San Diego. This project aims identify
behavioral, environmental, and genetic factors associated with risk
for mental health conditions, particularly mood disorders and
suicide, and develop a risk prediction model to be used for early
intervention.
With this special series, brought to you by the NEI Podcast we will address a different theme in psychopharmacology every 3 months. Each theme is split into 3 parts, with one part released each month. This theme is on practical psychopharmacology.
Episodes to be released under this theme include:
Part 1: The Lightning in the Storm: Creativity in Bipolar Disorder
Part 2: Nikola Tesla’s Evil Twins: Genius and Madness with Marko Perko
Part 3: History of Creative Famous Individuals with Bipolar Disorder
Subscribe to the NEI Podcast, so that you don’t miss another episode!