Investigating the genetic and environmental contributions to mental wellbeing, within a policy relevant framework.

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My research looks at why it is that some people have better mental wellbeing than others. This not only refers to happiness and life satisfaction, but also things like gratitude, feeling that your life is worthwhile and not feeling anxious or depressed. There are a range of genetic and environmental factors that interact with each other to determine a person's wellbeing. During my PhD, I came to three broad conclusions based on my research. First, social connections are vitally important for mental health, namely in the form of social support that you receive from family and friends. However not all aspects of social interaction are positive - it is human nature to compare your self against others often with negative consequences on your own wellbeing. Tapping into how individuals socially interact and connect with others could be an important way to improve wellbeing, and governments should pay special attention to this area of research. My second conclusion is that tackling inequality should be of high priority for policy makers because it is inequality that is often the root cause of low wellbeing. Finally, my PhD shows that attention needs to be paid how different people respond to wellbeing interventions. We need to use interventions that are proven to be beneficial for all, not just for some, or we need to think about personalising interventions to maximise a positive response for everyone. I am also interested in the use of genetics to understand mental wellbeing. Genetic research has exploded in the past decade as more and more innovative technologies advance our understanding of the building blocks of human life. Every part of us is influenced by genetics, from our height to our ability to sing, even to things that we'd normally think are completely environmental, like the amount of TV we watched as a child! But this is not to say our genes determine our future. Genetic influences are dynamic and they interact with the outside environment in amazing complex ways. I am interested in the complex interactions between genetics and environments to determine an individual's mental wellbeing. This is a really new area of research and this will is going to give us new insights into mechanisms. Eventually, it is hoped that the findings from this research is going to help us develop interventions to improve mental wellbeing. During this fellowship, I wish to develop my ideas and skills that will allow me to become an effective researcher in this new and exciting field of "social science genomics", which works to incorporate knowledge and methods from genetics and social sciences.