Dr Armin Deffur

Research Interests

My work is interdisciplinary - I work at the intersection of clinical medicine (precision medicine, collaboration with psychiatrists), genomics (including a strong focus on secondary and tertiary analysis of human next-generation sequencing data) and digital health (using wearable devices to capture longitudinal data that assists in uncovering clinical phenotypes). 

With this multi-pronged approach I collaborate with Dr. Melissa Nel (COIN) to develop an integrated genomic medicine program to support research projects requiring genomics. Translational aspects of my work are found in providing pharmacogenomics support to complex psychiatric cases. This includes looking at the effect of genetic makeup on the response to medications. I have an interest in treatment-resistant depression, looking for data-driven ways to improve peoples response to medication.Additionally, I work on tuberculosis infection, specifically its effect on the immune system, including the effect of tuberculous meningitis. Overall my work concerns the role of complex networks and is thus necessarily multi-disciplinary. 

Research Areas

Clinical Neuroscience • Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience • Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience • Computational Neuroscience • Neurogenetics