Assistant professor
Max Rady College of Medicine
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Room SR440, 710 William Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0Z3
Galen Wright, PhD
Cross-appointment
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine
Research summary
Dr. Galen Wright is broadly interested in identifying genetic factors that contribute towards risk for neurological disorders, as well as fundamental biological processes in the brain. To accomplish this, his research group performs bioinformatic analyses on large-scale genomic data. The results of these computational analyses are then used to inform downstream functional validation experiments, including gene editing work (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9). Insights obtained from this research lead to a better understanding of human biology, the identification of novel therapeutic targets, as well as improved risk prediction models.
Research themes
Precision medicine in neurology
Genomics of DNA repair in the brain
Keywords
Bioinformatics
DNA repair
Genetics
Genomics
Neurology
Neuroscience
Precision medicine
Pharmacogenomics
Rare disease
Research affiliations
Principal investigator, neuroscience research program, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Health Sciences Centre
Biography
Dr. Galen Wright is an assistant professor in pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Manitoba and is currently a Canada Research Chair in neurogenomics.
He completed his PhD in genetics at Stellenbosch University, and received additional training in computational biology at the South African National Bioinformatics Institute.
Dr. Wright then conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. This fellowship led to the identification of highly predictive genetic biomarkers for various adverse drug reactions, including drug-induced neurotoxicities.
Further, his precision medicine research has also involved the investigation of genetic variants which modify the age of onset of the neurodegenerative disorder, Huntington disease. This research identified clinically-relevant genetic variants for this trait.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics, Stellenbosch University
Bachelor of Science in Genetics (Honors), Stellenbosch University
Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology, Stellenbosch University
Awards
Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neurogenomics (2020-2025)
Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow (2021)
Learn more
Contact us
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Max Rady College of Medicine
A205 Chown Bldg., 753 McDermot Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T6 Canada
204-789-3553