Jim Wilson
Professor of Human Genetics
- Usher Institute
- MRC Human Genetics Unit
Contact details
Address
- Street
-
Old Medical School,
Teviot Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Background
Jim Wilson is affiliated both to the Usher Institute and the MRC Human Genetics Unit. Of Fair Isle heritage, he grew up in Orkney where he attended the Kirkwall Grammar School, before reading genetics at the University of Edinburgh. After a year working with Svante Pääbo in Bavaria, Jim went up to New College in Oxford where he completed a DPhil in human population genetics with David Goldstein. Jim moved back to Edinburgh in 2003 after a stint at University College London, to take up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.
He has published over 230 peer-reviewed articles, 46 of which were in the top genetics journal Nature Genetics, 10 in Nature and 2 in Science. His ISI Web of Science h-index is 72, his m-value 3.7, and he is a Thomson-Reuters highly cited researcher (highlycited.com) from 2014-2017.
Over the last decade Jim led two large genetic epidemiology studies in Orkney and Shetland. These platform resources for health research benefit from rich phenotyping, deep genotyping, a tissue biobank and prospective follow up through record linkage and have contributed to the discovery of over 1000 novel associations. More recently he has initiated a number of international consortia to explore interests in the genetic architecture of complex traits.
Jim is engaged in science communication principally through radio and TV series explaining genetics to the public (e.g. Blood of the Vikings, On the Ocean, Is it better to be mixed race?, Gatwick Baby, British More or Less, Twincredibles, Meet the Izzards, the IFTA-winning Blood of the Irish and Blood of the Travellers, a book and radio series, The Scots, A Genetic Journey) and was involved in the genetic ancestry testing business for over a decade.
Qualifications
-
Bachelor
- 1997 Bachelor of Science (honours), 1st, University of Edinburgh
- Doctorate
- 2002 Doctor of Philosophy, DPhil, University of Oxford
-
Trends in disease incidence and survival and their effect on mortality in Scotland: nationwide cohort study of linked hospital admission and death records 2001–2016
In:
BMJ Open
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034299
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Glycosylation of immunoglobulin G is regulated by a large network of genes pleiotropic with inflammatory diseases
In:
Science Advances, vol. 6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0301
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Coffee consumption and kidney function: A Mendelian randomisation study
In:
American Journal of Kidney Diseases
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2019.08.025
Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
A novel genetic locus influencing retinal venular tortuosity is also associated with risk of coronary artery disease
In:
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, vol. 39, pp. 2542-2552
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.312552
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The genetic underpinnings of obesity
In:
Current opinion in physiology, vol. 12, pp. 57-64
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2019.10.008
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Multi-trait genome-wide association study identifies new loci associated with optic disc parameters
In:
Communications biology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0634-9
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Increased ultra-rare variant load in an isolated Scottish population impacts exonic and regulatory regions
In:
PLoS Genetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008480
Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Associations of autozygosity with a broad range of human phenotypes
In:
Nature Communications, vol. 10
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12283-6
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Target genes, variants, tissues and transcriptional pathways influencing human serum urate levels
In:
Nature Genetics, vol. 51
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0504-x
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Maternal relationships within an Iron Age burial at the High Pasture Cave, Isle of Skye, Scotland
In:
Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 110
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.104978
Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)