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
-
The Genetic Landscape of Scotland and the Isles
In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904761116
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Maternal relationships within an Iron Age burial at the High Pasture Cave, Isle of Skye, Scotland
In:
Journal of Archaeological Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.104978
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Untangling Neolithic and Bronze Age mitochondrial lineages in South Asia
(5 pages)
In:
Annals of human biology, pp. 1-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2019.1623319
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
An actionable KCNH2 Long QT Syndrome variant detected by sequence and haplotype analysis in a population research cohort
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47436-6
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
New alcohol-related genes suggest shared genetic mechanisms with neuropsychiatric disorders
In:
Nature Human Behaviour
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0653-z
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Lipidomics, atrial conduction, and body mass index: evidence from association, mediation, and Mendelian randomization models
In:
Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCGEN.118.002384
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Effects of Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium Concentrations on Ventricular Repolarization in Unselected Individuals.
In:
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.03.519
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Regional variation in the incidence rate and sex ratio of multiple sclerosis in Scotland 2010-2017: findings from the Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register
(11 pages)
In:
Journal of Neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09413-x
Contribution to journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
A catalogue of genetic loci associated with kidney function from analyses of a million individuals
(16 pages)
In:
Nature Genetics, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 957-972
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0407-x
Contribution to journal › Article (Published) -
Author Correction : New genetic signals for lung function highlight pathways and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associations across multiple ancestries
In:
Nature Genetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0438-3
Contribution to journal › Comment/debate (E-pub ahead of print)