Robert Keers

Robert Keers (October 25, 1984 - July 5, 2020) was a British psychologist conducting innovative research on individual differences in mental health problems with a specific focus on psychiatric genetics.

Robert Keers
Born(1984-10-25)October 25, 1984
DiedJuly 5, 2020(2020-07-05) (aged 35)
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materUniversity of Liverpool, King's College London
Known forGene-Environment Interaction
SpouseKate Keers
ChildrenAlice
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology, Psychiatric Genetics, Behavioural Genetics
InstitutionsKing's College London, Queen Mary University of London
Doctoral advisorsKatherine J. Aitchison, Rudolf Uher

Biography

Born in Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, UK), Rob Keers grew up in Berkhamsted and Tring (Hertfordshire, UK). He completed a BSc in Genetics and Psychology at the University of Liverpool (2003-2006) whilst also spending several months working as a nursing assistant at the Eric Shepherd Unit in Abbots Langley (2005-2006) where he was involved in the care of men with learning disabilities. He then moved to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London for a MSc and PhD in Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry (2007-2011). After completing his PhD which investigated the effects of genes, environments and their interaction on depression and response to treatment, he took up a research fellow post at Queen Mary University of London looking at the effects of treatment on violent outcomes in psychosis (2010-2012). He was then awarded an MRC population health scientist fellowship for his own three-year project entitled “Translating gene-environment interaction from aetiology to personalised medicine for anxiety and depression” based at King’s College London (2013-2016). In 2016 he joined the Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology at Queen Mary University of London as Lecturer (Assistant Professor).

Honors and awards

Research

Rob Keers’ research focussed on identifying genetic and environmental factors associated with the development of psychiatric disorders[1] and response to treatment. He has led and collaborated on a number of projects which addressed this broad aim including human pharmacogenomics,[2] gene-environment interactions,[3][4] circadian rhythms and behavioural pharmacology.[5] As part of his PhD Rob Keers investigated the effects of genes, environments and their interaction on depression and response to treatment, followed by postdoctoral research on the effects of treatment on violent outcomes in psychosis.[6] He then received his own funding to investigate whether the same genes that moderate the effects of the environment on the development of anxiety and depression may also be important predictors of response to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This work resulted in the creation of a polygenic score for sensitivity to the environment that he found to moderate the effects of both parenting quality and psychological therapy.[7] Specifically, he showed that genetically more sensitive children were more negatively affected by low quality parenting but also benefited more from high quality parenting. He also showed that genetically more sensitive children benefited more from intensive one-to-one CBT with a therapist whereas they did less well when they received a brief parent-led form of CBT. This genome-wide polygenic score for sensitivity has been adopted by several other researchers and shown to predict the response to psychological treatment in children [8] as well as adults.[9] A Wellcome Trust funded follow-up project titled “Investigating a novel approach to gene-environment interaction in depression and anxiety”, allowed him to revise and strengthen the initial polygenic scores by drawing on data from multiple twin studies with genome-wide data. Besides his influential research in psychiatric genetics, he also developed a Masters course titled MSc Psychology: Mental Health Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.

Personal life

Rob Keers was married to Kate Keers. Together they had one daughter.

References
  1. García-González, J., Ramírez, J., Howard, D. M., Brennan, C. H., Munroe, P. B., & Keers, R. (2020). The effects of polygenic risk for psychiatric disorders and smoking behaviour on psychotic experiences in UK Biobank. Translational psychiatry, 10(1), 1-10.
  2. Keers, R., Uher, R., Gupta, B., Rietschel, M., Schulze, T. G., Hauser, J., ... & Aitchison, K. J. (2010). Stressful life events, cognitive symptoms of depression and response to antidepressants in GENDEP. Journal of affective disorders, 127(1-3), 337-342.
  3. Keers, R., & Pluess, M. (2017). Childhood quality influences genetic sensitivity to environmental influences across adulthood: A life-course Gene× Environment interaction study. Development and psychopathology, 29(5), 1921-1933.
  4. Assary, E., Vincent, J. P., Keers, R., & Pluess, M. (2018, May). Gene-environment Interaction and Psychiatric Disorders: Review and Future Directions. In Seminars in cell & developmental biology (Vol. 77, pp. 133-143).
  5. Keers, R., Uher, R., Huezo-Diaz, P., Smith, R., Jaffee, S., Rietschel, M., ... & Aitchison, K. J. (2011). Interaction between serotonin transporter gene variants and life events predicts response to antidepressants in the GENDEP project. The pharmacogenomics journal, 11(2), 138-145.Keers, R., & Uher, R. (2012). Gene–environment interaction in major depression and antidepressant treatment response. Current psychiatry reports, 14(2), 129-137.
  6. Keers, R., Ullrich, S., DeStavola, B. L., & Coid, J. W. (2014). Association of violence with emergence of persecutory delusions in untreated schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(3), 332-339.
  7. Keers, R., Coleman, J. R., Lester, K. J., Roberts, S., Breen, G., Thastum, M., . . . Eley, T. C. (2016). A Genome-Wide Test of the Differential Susceptibility Hypothesis Reveals a Genetic Predictor of Differential Response to Psychological Treatments for Child Anxiety Disorders. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 85(3), 146-158. doi:10.1159/000444023
  8. Lemery-Chalfant, K., Clifford, S., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2018). Genetic moderation of the effects of the Family Check-Up intervention on children's internalizing symptoms: A longitudinal study with a racially/ethnically diverse sample. Development and Psychopathology, 30(5), 1729-1747. doi:10.1017/S095457941800127X
  9. Pluess, M., Rhoades, G. K., Keers, R., Knopp, K., Belsky, J., Markman, H. J., & Stanley, S. M. (In Revision). Genetic Sensitivity Predicts Long-Term Psychological Benefits of a Relationship Education Program for Married Couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
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