Mark Adams

My research in a nutshell

I study the complex trait genetics of psychological and psychiatric phenotypes. I do this by conducting large-scale, global genetic studies of common mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety, using data from millions of participants. I am particularly interested in heterogeneity of disorder ascertainment and symptom presentation.

Current Research Interests

I work across complex trait genetics, psychiatry, and global mental health.

I am currently conducting genome-wide association studies of depression as part of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, using global datasets. I am also studying the genetics of anxiety in a very low-income setting, with a focus on how genetic factors influence trajectories of mental health.

Education/Academic qualification

Psychology, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Edinburgh

Award Date: 24 Apr 2012

Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis, Master in Science, University of Edinburgh

Award Date: 27 Nov 2008

Theoretical Evolutionary Biology, Bachelor of Arts, Cornell University

Award Date: 25 Mar 2003

Research Themes and Networks

Edinburgh Mental Health Network

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1 Similar Profiles

140 Article
6 Preprint
3 Comment/debate
2 Meeting abstract
More

Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling
Strom, N. I., Verhulst, B., Bacanu, S.-A., Cheesman, R., Purves, K. L., Gedik, H., Mitchell, B. L., Kwong, A. S., Faucon, A. B., Singh, K., Medland, S., Colodro-Conde, L., Krebs, K., Hoffmann, P., Herms, S., Gehlen, J., Ripke, S., Awasthi, S., Palviainen, T. & Tasanko, E. M. & 117 others, Peterson, R. E., Adkins, D. E., Shabalin, A. A., Adams, M. J., Iveson, M. H., Campbell, A., Thomas, L. F., Winsvold, B. S., Drange, O. K., Børte, S., Ter Kuile, A. R., Naamanka, J., Nguyen, T.-H., Meier, S. M., Corfield, E. C., Hannigan, L., Levey, D. F., Czamara, D., Weber, H., Choi, K. W., Pistis, G., Couvy-Duchesne, B., Van der Auwera, S., Teumer, A., Karlsson, R., Garcia-Argibay, M., Lee, D., Wang, R., Bjerkeset, O., Stordal, E., Bäckman, J., Salum, G. A., Zai, C. C., Kennedy, J. L., Zai, G., Tiwari, A. K., Heilmann-Heimbach, S., Schmidt, B., Kaprio, J., Kennedy, M. M., Boden, J., Havdahl, A., Middeldorp, C. M., Lopes, F. L., Akula, N., McMahon, F. J., Binder, E. B., Fehm, L., Ströhle, A., Castelao, E., Tiemeier, H., Stein, D. J., Whiteman, D., Olsen, C., Fuller, Z., Wang, X., Wray, N. R., Byrne, E. M., Lewis, G., Timpson, N. J., Davis, L. K., Hickie, I. B., Gillespie, N. A., Milani, L., Schumacher, J., Woldbye, D. P., Forstner, A. J., Nöthen, M. M., Hovatta, I., Horwood, J., Copeland, W. E., Maes, H. H., McIntosh, A. M., Andreassen, O. A., Zwart, J.-A., Mors, O., Børglum, A. D., Mortensen, P. B., Ask, H., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Najman, J. M., Stein, M. B., Gelernter, J., Milaneschi, Y., Penninx, B. W., Boomsma, D. I., Maron, E., Erhardt-Lehmann, A., Rück, C., Kircher, T. T., Melzig, C. A., Alpers, G. W., Arolt, V., Domschke, K., Smoller, J. W., Preisig, M., Martin, N. G., Lupton, M. K., Luik, A. I., Reif, A., Grabe, H. J., Larsson, H., Magnusson, P. K., Oldehinkel, A. J., Hartman, C. A., Breen, G., Docherty, A. R., Coon, H., Conrad, R., Lehto, K., Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program, FinnGen, the 23andMe Research Team, Deckert, J., Eley, T. C., Mattheisen, M. & Hettema, J. M., 3 Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature Genetics.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
Methodological Considerations When Using Polygenic Scores to Explore Parent-Offspring Genetic Nurturing Effects: version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations
Chuong, M., Kwong, A. S. F., Amador, C., Haley, C. S., McIntosh, A. M. & Adams, M. J., 6 Jan 2026, In: Wellcome Open Research. 11, p. 19
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
Integrating Multi-Omics Summary Data Identifies Candidate Molecular Mechanisms for Major Depression
Nisbet, L., Wu, Y., Adams, M., Lynall, M.-E., Hjerling-Leffler, J., Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Functional Genomics Working Group, Wray, N. R., McIntosh, A. M. & Shen, X., 15 Jun 2026, In: Biological Psychiatry. 99, 12, p. 1120-1129
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
Integrating multi-omic summary data identifies candidate molecular mechanisms for Major Depression
Nisbet, L., Wu, Y., Adams, M., Lynall, M.-E., Hjerling-Leffler, J., Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Functional Genomics Working Group, Wray, N. R., McIntosh, A. M. & Shen, X., 15 Dec 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Biological Psychiatry.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
Quantifying Individual Depressive Symptom Burden Over the Life Course Using Area Under the Curve (AUC): An Alternative Phenotype for Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS)
Elsden, E., Dargham, R., Kwong, A. S. F., Adams, M., Shen, X. & McIntosh, A., 3 Oct 2025, In: European Neuropsychopharmacology. 99, Supplement 1, p. 15-16 2 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Meeting abstract › peer-review

3 Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
3 Providing oral or written evidence for non-academic board, committee, working group or advisory panel
2 Public Engagement – Festival/Exhibition
1 Public Engagement – Schools engagement

Evidence submitted to Cross Party Group - Mental Health
Beange, I. (Contributor), McIntosh, A. (Advisor), Adams, M. (Advisor), Kirkham, E. (Advisor) & Iveson, M. (Advisor)
Feb 2021
Activity: Consultancy types › Providing oral or written evidence for non-academic board, committee, working group or advisory panel

File
Depression Detectives
Beange, I. (Organiser), McIntosh, A. (Speaker), Whalley, H. (Speaker), Chan, S. (Speaker), MacSweeney, N. (Speaker), Barbu, M. C. (Speaker), Romaniuk, L. (Speaker), Ecks, S. (Speaker), Adams, M. (Speaker), Huggins, C. (Speaker), Kwong, A. (Speaker), Smith, D. (Speaker), Goodall, K. (Speaker), Happer, R. (Speaker) & Iveson, M. (Speaker)
2021 → …
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
A Consultation on the Digital Strategy for Scotland
Beange, I. (Contributor), McIntosh, A. (Advisor), Adams, M. (Advisor) & Iveson, M. (Advisor)
Dec 2020
Activity: Consultancy types › Providing oral or written evidence for non-academic board, committee, working group or advisory panel

File
NHS Research Scotland Mental Health Annual Scientific Meeting
Whalley, H. (Advisor) & Adams, M. (Advisor)
4 Nov 2020
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Public lecture/debate/seminar
Midlothian science Festival 2019: Big Data Detectives
Iveson, M. (Presenter), Beange, I. (Organiser), McIntosh, A. (Advisor), Pugh, C. (Contributor), Adams, M. (Contributor) & Kirkham, E. (Presenter)
13 Oct 2019
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Engagement – Festival/Exhibition

Gershon Paper of the Year Award
Adams, M. (Recipient), 27 Oct 2025
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Good Research Practice Award
Beange, I. (Recipient), McIntosh, A. (Recipient), Adams, M. (Recipient), Whalley, H. (Recipient), Kirkham, E. (Recipient), Iveson, M. (Recipient), Kwong, A. (Recipient), Lewins, M. (Recipient), Chan, S. (Recipient), MacSweeney, N. (Recipient), Barbu, M. (Recipient), Romaniuk, L. (Recipient), Ecks, S. (Recipient), Higgins, C. (Recipient), Smith, D. (Recipient), Campbell, M. A. (Recipient), Goodall, K. (Recipient), Christie, H. (Recipient), Happer, R. (Recipient) & Boynton, P. M. (Recipient), Dec 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

DATAMIND: Data Hub for Mental health INformatics research Development
McIntosh, A. (Principal Investigator), Adams, M. (Co-investigator), Iveson, M. (Co-investigator) & Smith, D. (Co-investigator)
MRC
1/09/21 → 31/08/24
Project: Research
DATAMIND: Data Hub for Mental health INformatics research Development
McIntosh, A. (Principal Investigator), Adams, M. (Co-investigator), Iveson, M. (Co-investigator) & Smith, D. (Co-investigator)
Medical Research Council
1/09/21 → 31/03/25
Project: Research
Depression Detectives
Beange, I. (Principal Investigator), McIntosh, A. (Collaborator), Iveson, M. (Collaborator), Kwong, A. (Collaborator), Adams, M. (Collaborator), Whalley, H. (Collaborator), Kirkham, E. (Collaborator), Smith, D. (Collaborator), MacSweeney, N. (Collaborator), Barbu, M. C. (Collaborator) & Huggins, C. (Collaborator)
20/02/21 → 8/09/21
Project: Other (Non-Funded/Miscellaneous)
Travel Grant for Mr Mark Adams: PhD research trip to Japan to examine personality in Japanese macaques.
Adams, M. (Principal Investigator)
Other Competitive Uk Charity Sources
1/07/09 → 30/06/10
Project: Research

STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL): A depression-focused investigation of Generation Scotland, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging assessments
Adams, M. (Creator), McIntosh, A. (Owner), Hawkins, E. (Data Manager), Habota, T. (Creator), Steele, J. D. (Creator), Whalley, H. (Creator), Porteous, D. (Project Leader), Deary, I. (Project Leader), Murray, A. (Creator) & Campbell, A. (Data Manager), Edinburgh DataVault, 2019
DOI: 10.7488/8f68f1ae-0329-4b73-b189-c7288ea844d7
Dataset
PGC MDD2025
Adams, M. J. (Creator) & Consortium, M. D. D. W. G. O. P. G. (Creator), Zenodo, 17 Jun 2024
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11935052, https://github.com/psychiatric-genomics-consortium/mdd-wave3-meta/tree/v3.49.52.01-rev2
Dataset
Factors associated with sharing email information and mental health survey participation in large population cohorts
Adams, M. (Creator), McIntosh, A. (Project Leader), Campbell, A. (Data Manager), Dashti, H. (Researcher), Hill, W. D. (Researcher), Howard, D. (Researcher), Davis, K. (Researcher), Deary, I. (Project Leader), Hayward, C. (Project Leader), Porteous, D. (Project Leader) & Hotopf, M. (Project Leader), Edinburgh DataShare, 3 Jun 2019
DOI: 10.7488/ds/2554
Dataset
Data supporting Luciano et al. Association analysis in over 329,000 individuals identifies 116 independent variants influencing neuroticism
Marioni, R. (Creator), Harris, S. (Creator), Luciano, M. (Creator), Shirali, M. (Creator), Hill, D. (Creator), Hagenaars, S. (Creator), Liewald, D. (Creator), Lewis, C. M. (Creator), McIntosh, A. (Creator), Deary, I. (Creator), Gale, C. (Creator), Adams, M. (Creator), Fawns-Ritchie, C. (Creator), Davies, G. (Creator), Clarke, T. (Creator) & Howard, D. (Creator), Edinburgh DataShare, 4 Jun 2019
DOI: 10.7488/ds/2565
Dataset
Genome-wide association summary statistics of antidepressant treatment resistance meta-analysis
Wigmore, E. (Creator), Hafferty, J. (Creator), Hall, L. (Creator), Howard, D. (Creator), Clarke, T.-K. (Creator), Fabbri, C. (Creator), Lewis, C. (Creator), Navrady, L. (Creator), Adams, M. (Creator), Zeng, Y. (Creator), Campbell, A. (Creator), Gibson, J. (Creator), Thomson, P. (Creator), Hayward, C. (Creator), Smith, B. (Creator), Hocking, L. (Creator), Padmanabhan, S. (Creator), Deary, I. (Creator), Porteous, D. (Creator), Mors, O. (Creator), Mattheisen, M. (Creator), Uher, R. (Creator), Nicodemus, K. (Creator) & McIntosh, A. (Creator), Edinburgh DataShare, 31 Mar 2020
DOI: 10.7488/ds/2791
Dataset

Mark Adams creates prototype dog IQ test
Adams, M.
1/07/16
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
Mark Adams creates dog IQ test that could help understand link between intelligence and health
Adams, M.
8/02/16
87 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
Dr Mark Adams measures the intelligence of dogs
Adams, M.
25/11/16
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research

Mark Adams

Personal profile

My research in a nutshell

Current Research Interests

Education/Academic qualification

Research Themes and Networks

Fingerprint

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Dive into details

Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling

Methodological Considerations When Using Polygenic Scores to Explore Parent-Offspring Genetic Nurturing Effects: version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations

Integrating Multi-Omics Summary Data Identifies Candidate Molecular Mechanisms for Major Depression

Integrating multi-omic summary data identifies candidate molecular mechanisms for Major Depression

Quantifying Individual Depressive Symptom Burden Over the Life Course Using Area Under the Curve (AUC): An Alternative Phenotype for Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS)

Evidence submitted to Cross Party Group - Mental Health

Depression Detectives

A Consultation on the Digital Strategy for Scotland

NHS Research Scotland Mental Health Annual Scientific Meeting

Midlothian science Festival 2019: Big Data Detectives

Gershon Paper of the Year Award

Good Research Practice Award

DATAMIND: Data Hub for Mental health INformatics research Development

DATAMIND: Data Hub for Mental health INformatics research Development

Depression Detectives

Travel Grant for Mr Mark Adams: PhD research trip to Japan to examine personality in Japanese macaques.

STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally (STRADL): A depression-focused investigation of Generation Scotland, using detailed clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging assessments

PGC MDD2025

Factors associated with sharing email information and mental health survey participation in large population cohorts

Data supporting Luciano et al. Association analysis in over 329,000 individuals identifies 116 independent variants influencing neuroticism

Genome-wide association summary statistics of antidepressant treatment resistance meta-analysis

Mark Adams creates prototype dog IQ test

Mark Adams creates dog IQ test that could help understand link between intelligence and health

Dr Mark Adams measures the intelligence of dogs

Mark Adams

Personal profile

My research in a nutshell

Current Research Interests

Education/Academic qualification

Research Themes and Networks

Fingerprint

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Research output

Activities

Prizes

Projects

Datasets

Press/Media