Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide and are responsible for an enormous burden of suffering.  Dr. Smoller and colleagues are working to understand the nature of these disorders and to develop better methods for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Dr. Smoller’s research is focused on three main areas: 1) Understanding the genetic and environmental (“nature and nurture”) contributions to psychiatric disorders across the lifespan. This includes large-scale genomic research to identify genes that confer risk or resilience to neurodevelopmental disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and disorders of cognition as well as how genetic effects link different mental health conditions; 2) Integrating genomics and neuroscience to unravel how genes affect brain structure and function. This includes research using neuroimaging and genomics to identify the brain basis of mental health and illness; and 3) Using “big data”, including electronic health records and genomics, to advance precision medicine for psychiatric and other diseases. This includes computational approaches to develop clinically useful tools for the prediction and early detection of psychiatric disorders and suicidal behavior.