Galen Wright, PhD

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.

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)