Rona Strawbridge

I completed my BSc in Biochemistry with Medical Biochemistry at Cardiff University (UK) in 2003 and moved to Karolinksa Institute (Sweden) to undertake a PhD. I defended my PhD thesis entitled "Genetic Studies of Prostate Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes: MUC1 and GHR" in 2008.

I stayed at Karolinska Institute as a Post-Doctoral Fellow (2009-2011), conducting genome-wide genetic studies of glucometabolic and cardiovascular traits and participating in many projects run through international genetics consortia, including MAGIC, GIANT and DIAGRAM.

Continuing at Karolinska Institute, I was appointed Research Associate Professor (2012-2016), where I focused on using genetics to explore causality of metabolic components on cardiovascular disease, and was awarded Associate Professorship (Docent) in Molecular Medicine. I have an ongoing affiliation with the Cardiovascular Medicine Division at Karolinska Institute.

In 2017 I moved to Glasgow University (UK) to join Professor Daniel Smith's team, to study the genetics of mental illness. In 2018 was awarded a UKRI innovation Fellowship by Health Data Science UK to investigate, using genetics, why individuals with serious mental illness have an increased risk of cardiometabolic disease.

I currently co-lead the Behavioural Epidemiology and Genetics group.