Thalia C. Eley PhD, FRSB

Thalia C. Eley, Ph.D., is Professor of Developmental Behavioural Genetics at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. She directs the Emotional Development, Intervention and Treatment lab (EDITlab). Her work combines behavioural genetics with developmental psychology.

Using both quantitative and molecular genetic approaches she has focused on two main themes within her research. First, she has examined the role of gene-environment interactions on the development of anxiety and depression, work for which she was awarded the Lilly-Molecular Psychiatry Award for the best original research submitted by a young investigator (2004). Second, she has considered the role of cognitive biases in the development of anxiety and depression in the context of genetically sensitive designs. At present, her twin research includes ongoing analyses of her longitudinal twin study, G1219. She is also working on the transmission of anxiety and depression from parents to children using the "Children of Twins" approach. Her molecular work currently focuses on two projects exploring the role of specific genetic markers in response to psychological therapies, including cognitive-behaviour therapy for child anxiety and exposure therapy for adult phobias.