Statistical Bioinformatics Seminar: Dr Ye Ella Tian (University of Melbourne)

Speaker: Dr Ye Ella Tian (University of Melbourne) 

Abstract: Integrated research into brain and body systems holds substantial clinical
potential in addressing multimorbidity and physical illness burden in people with
neuropsychiatric disorders.  In the first part of my talk, I will introduce a multiorgan
aging network to demonstrate how the aging of one organ system selectively and
characteristically influences the aging of other brain and body systems.  I will show
multiorgan aging profiles for 16 chronic brain and body disorders and its relationship
to mortality risk prediction.  Paper link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02296-6 

In the second part of my talk, I will present a multiorgan, system-wide characterization
of brain and body health for common neuropsychiatric disorders.  I will show that
individuals diagnosed with these neuropsychiatric disorders are not only characterized
by deviations from normative reference ranges for brain phenotypes but also present
considerably poorer physical health across multiple body systems compared to their
healthy peers.  I will show that poor physical health is a more pronounced manifestation
of neuropsychiatric illness compared to brain changes.  To close the talk, I will call
for integrated and holistic mental and physical health care in psychiatry.  Paper link:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2804355 

About the speaker: Dr Ye Ella Tian is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the
Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne.  She is a psychiatrist and
neuroscientist by training and holds a PhD in systems neuroscience.  She works at the
interface between neuroscience, computation and translational research of applying brain
imaging techniques to clinical research.  She leads the development of the Melbourne
Subcortex Atlas.  Her current research focuses on brain-body relationships in mental
illness across the lifespan.  

This event will be held online.  

Zoom: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/84087321707