Robert Keers (October 25, 1984 – July 5, 2020) was a British psychologist conducting innovative research on individual differences in

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

problems with a specific focus on

psychiatric genetics Psychiatric genetics is a subfield of behavioral neurogenetics and Behavioural genetics, behavioral genetics which studies the role of genetics in the development of mental disorders (such as alcoholism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism) ...

Biography

Born in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

(Buckinghamshire, UK), Rob Keers grew up in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

and

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked ...

(Hertfordshire, UK). He completed a BSc in Genetics and Psychology at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

(2003–2006) whilst also spending several months working as a nursing assistant at the Eric Shepherd Unit in Abbots Langley (2005–2006) where he was involved in the care of men with learning disabilities. He then moved to the

Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a centre for mental health and neuroscience research, education and training in Europe. It is dedicated to understanding, preventing and treating mental illness, neurological co ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

for a MSc and PhD in Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry (2007–2011). After completing his PhD which investigated the effects of genes, environments and their interaction on depression and response to treatment, he took up a research fellow post at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

looking at the effects of treatment on violent outcomes in psychosis (2010–2012). He was then awarded an MRC population health scientist fellowship for his own three-year project entitle
"Translating gene-environment interaction from aetiology to personalised medicine for anxiety and depression"
based at

(2013–2016). In 2016 he joined the Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology at

as Lecturer (Assistant Professor).

Honors and awards

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

Seed Award (2017) * Population Health Fellowship from the UK Medical Research Council (2013) * 10th Annual Pharmacogenetics in Psychiatry Meeting Travel Award (2011) * Young Scientist Award,

European College of Neuropsychopharmacology The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) is a pan-European, non-profit scientific association that serves as a platform to exchange and promote research in the field of neuropsychopharmacology. The ECNP “is committed to ensuring t ...

(2010) * XVII

World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics The International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (ISPG) is a learned society that aims to "promote and facilitate research in the Psychiatric genetics, genetics of psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders and allied traits". To this end, amon ...

Travel Award (2009) * PhD Studentship from the UK Medical Research Council (2007)

Research

Rob Keers' research focussed on identifying genetic and environmental factors associated with the development of

psychiatric disorders A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

and response to treatment. He has led and collaborated on a number of projects which addressed this broad aim including human

pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenomics, often abbreviated "PGx," is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name ('' pharmaco-'' + ''genomics'') reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup o ...

, gene-environment interactions,

circadian rhythms A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., endogenous) and responds to the environment (is entrai ...

and behavioural

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

. As part of his PhD Rob Keers investigated the effects of genes, environments and their interaction on depression and response to treatment, followed by postdoctoral research on the effects of treatment on violent outcomes in psychosis. He then received his own funding to investigate whether the same genes that moderate the effects of the environment on the development of anxiety and depression may also be important predictors of response to

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and chang ...

(CBT). This work resulted in the creation of a polygenic score for sensitivity to the environment that he found to moderate the effects of both parenting quality and psychological therapy. Specifically, he showed that genetically more sensitive children were more negatively affected by low quality parenting but also benefited more from high quality parenting. He also showed that genetically more sensitive children benefited more from intensive one-to-one CBT with a therapist whereas they did less well when they received a brief parent-led form of CBT. This genome-wide polygenic score for sensitivity has been adopted by several other researchers and shown to predict the response to psychological treatment in children as well as adults.Pluess, M., Rhoades, G. K., Keers, R., Knopp, K., Belsky, J., Markman, H. J., & Stanley, S. M. (In Revision). Genetic Sensitivity Predicts Long-Term Psychological Benefits of a Relationship Education Program for Married Couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. A

funded follow-up project titled "Investigating a novel approach to gene-environment interaction in depression and anxiety", allowed him to revise and strengthen the initial polygenic scores by drawing on data from multiple twin studies with genome-wide data. Besides his influential research in psychiatric genetics, he also developed a Masters course title
MSc Psychology: Mental Health Sciences
at

References

External links

Official website at Queen Mary University of London

* ttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Keers Official website at researchgate
Official website at sensitivityresearch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keers, Robert Academics of King's College London Academics of Queen Mary University of London British psychologists Behavior geneticists Psychiatric geneticists 1984 births 2020 deaths

Biography

Honors and awards

Research

See also

References

External links