Dr Cathy Wyse

Chancellor's Research Fellow

Biography

Background

Cathy was awarded a PhD from the University of Glasgow, and completed postdoctoral training at Swansea University and the University of Aberdeen.  She was  awarded a Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Fellowship at the University of Glasgow in 2013, and worked as a research fellow at Maynooth University before joining the University of Edinburgh as a Chancellor’s Research Fellow in 2025.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Affiliate Research Fellow, FamilyGenomics Research Group, Maynooth University, Ireland

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

Cathy is a researcher in chronobiology which is the science of biological timing and rhythmicity.  This is an interdisciplinary research topic and Cathy is interested in how disruption of the neurobiological and neuroendocrine mechanisms that drive circadian rhythms and seasonality impact on human health and wellbeing.  It is difficult to study rhythms directly in humans, so one of her approaches is to use data from population-level studies to assess daily and annual variation and to test independent associations with disease outcomes.  She is particularly interested in neuropsychiatric disorders that very often feature seasonal and circadian patterns in their symptoms, as well as in developing new biomarkers that can be used to test human circadian and seasonal function.

Project activity

  • Ambient-BD – Visit project

  • FamilySleeps – Visit project

  • UK Biobank: Exploring Time Dimensions of Human Health and Wellbeing – Analyzing how circadian and seasonal rhythms affect health outcomes across the UK Biobank cohort. Visit project

  • UK Biobank: Urbanisation, Circadian Rhythmicity, and Metabolic and Mental Health – Studying how urban living impacts circadian biology and associated health measures. Visit project

In the press

 

  • Interview in The Guardian about our research on how the seasons might affect mood through endogenous photoperiodic mechanisms. (Read the article)

  • Interview in in The Guardian discussing our work with UK Biobank data and its relevance for understanding seasonal rhythms in immune function. (Read the article)

  • Interview with UK Biobank about our research exploring daily and seasonal patterns in the dataset (Read more)

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