Dr Alex Kwong (BA (Hons), MSc, PhD)

Wellcome Senior Research Fellow

Biography

Background

I am a Wellcome Senior Research Fellow at the Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences.

I completed my PhD in Advanced Quantitative Methods at the University of Bristol in 2019. I joined Psychiatry as a Research Fellow shortly after, working under Professor Andrew McIntosh to examine the genomics of depression. I was awarded an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020 examining bio-psycho-social mechanisms underpinning adolescent depression & then awarded two Wellcome Mental Health Data Prizes to develop a digital tool for examining trajectories of mental health across development.

I am predominantly interested in examining the causes and consequences of poorer mental health in young people. My research group uses longitudinal data through the lens of epidemiology, genomics, data science and social science to probe this. We are also interested in developing methods that can facilitate better understanding of the course of mental health problems. 

In 2024, I started a 5-year Wellcome Early Career Award that combines these research interests above and joined the Edinburgh Scientific Academic Track (ESAT) scheme, which is a tenure track scheme for early career scientists at Edinburgh. 

CV

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Qualifications

PhD in Advanced Quantitative Methods - University of Bristol (2019)

MSc by Research - University of Bristol (2015)

BA (Hons) - University of Reading (2013)

Undergraduate teaching

Genetics and Environmental Influences on Behaviour and Mental Health, Biomedical Sciences (BSc)

Postgraduate teaching

I teach courses on Introduction to Statistics and Introduction for Repeated Measures Analysis

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I currently supervise three PhD students and would be happy to supervise any students looking at the causes and consequences of mental health, students interesting longitudinal/lifecourse epidemiology or risk factors for poorer mental health in the general population.

Current PhD students supervised

Eileen Xu (PhD - UoE)

Sam Bentwood (PhD - UoE)

Bianca Branco (PhD - UoE)

Past PhD students supervised

Melisa Chuong (PhD - UoE)

Niamh MacSweeney (PhD - UoE)

Melissa Lewins (PhD - UoE)

Boyang Yu (MSc by Research - UoE)

Amelia Edmondson-Stait (PhD - UoE)

Reesha Zahir (PhD - UoE)

Holly Fraser (PhD - UoB)

Poppy Grimes (PhD - UoE)

Research summary

I am interested in the genetic and environmental risk factors that underlie depression and how it changes across development and what this means for downstream wellbeing. My main area of expertise is in youth mental health. I tend to use a number of longitudinal methods including: growth curve models, structural equation modelling and genetic/omic analyses.

I have also been involved in work related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. 

Current research interests

Genetic and environmental risk factors for depression. Risk factors for change in adolescent depression. Intergenerational transmission of depression. Consequences of mental health.

Current project grants

Wellcome Early Career Award - Identifying the Nature, Causes and Consequences of Youth Depression Trajectories (PI; 2024-2028)
Wellcome Mental Health Award - What is the Molecular Genetic Basis of Anxiety in a Very-Low-Income African setting? (Co-I; 2025-2030)
UKRI Research Programme - Exploring the Intersecting Drivers of Gambling Harm: A Rapid Evidence Review (PI; 2025-2026)

Past project grants

ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship - Examining the aetiology, nature and consequences of depression in young people with a biosocial framework (PI; 2020-2021)
Elizabeth Blackwell Institute and RoseTrees Trust Mental Health Grant - Examining Youth Mental Health During COVID-19 (PI; 2020-2021)
Elizabeth Blackwell Institute next Steps Mental Health Grant - Tracking Mental Health in Real-Time in a Youth Population Cohort (PI; 2022-2023)
Wellcome Mental Health Data Prize - Mental Health Trajectories Following Pharmacological and Psychological Treatment: Phase 1 (PI; 2022-2023)
Wellcome Mental Health Data Prize - Mental Health Trajectories Following Pharmacological and Psychological Treatment: Phase 2 (PI; 2023)
Gambling Harms Research Innovation Fund Strategic Award - Exploring the Relationship Between Gambling and Homelessness (PI, 2024-2026)

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