Sam Bentwood

I started my PhD in 2024 on the MRC funded Precision Medicine programme in the Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences.

Originally graduating with a BSc in Economics from the University of Manchester, I spent 6 years as a SAS database programmer in the financial industry. I returned to academia in 2020, completing a BSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology (also University of Manchester) in 2023, where I developed an interest for psychiatric genetics, carrying out a final year bioinformatics project looking into differential microRNA expression in autism spectrum disorder. In 2024, I completed an MSc in Human Complex Trait Genetics at the University of Edinburgh, my summer MSc project investigating the genetic architecture of subtypes of depression, which is also the focus of my PhD project.

My research focuses on the heterogeneity of depression, aiming to understand the causes and consequences of different forms of the condition, using longitudinal modelling and network analysis to identify clinically relevant patient subgroups, and genetic analyses such as genome-wide association, polygenic risk scores and mendelian randomisation to investigate the underlying genetic architecture and potential causal relationships.

I have always been fascinated by what makes everyone unique and interesting, but these factors can also negatively impact people’s lives and wellbeing, so I am proud to be undertaking this research to help further our understanding of depression.

Outside of work, I love climbing, both indoors and outdoors. I have recently got into juggling, and I hope to be able to juggle 5 balls by the end of my PhD!