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
-
Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects
In:
Nature Genetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01062-7
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Using genetic variation to disentangle the complex relationship between food intake and health outcomes.
In:
PLoS Genetics
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Gene-based whole genome sequencing meta-analysis of 250 circulating proteins in three isolated European populations
In:
Molecular Metabolism, pp. 101509
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2022.101509
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Serum metabolomic profiles associated with subclinical and clinical cardiovascular phenotypes in people with type 2 diabetes
In:
Cardiovascular diabetology, vol. 21
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-022-01493-w
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Large-scale genome-wide association study of food liking reveals genetic determinants and genetic correlations with distinct neurophysiological traits
In:
Nature Communications
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Accepted/In press) -
Genetic Landscape of the ACE2 Coronavirus Receptor
In:
Circulation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057888
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Genetic and phenotypic links between obesity and extracellular vesicles
In:
Human Molecular Genetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddac069
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Genetic regulation of post-translational modification of two distinct proteins
In:
Nature Communications, vol. 13, pp. 1586
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29189-5
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Genome-wide Association Study of Liking for Several Types of Physical Activity in the UK Biobank and Two Replication Cohorts
In:
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002907
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Meta-GWAS Reveals Novel Genetic Variants Associated with Urinary Excretion of Uromodulin
In:
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2021040491
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)