VIPBG News

By Elizabeth Long

Dr. Nathan Gillespie, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. His interests in behavioral genetics began as an undergraduate majoring in psychology, where he became fascinated by Hans Eyesenck’s research on the genetics of personality. This interest led him to pursue a PhD in behavior genetics at University of Queensland, working with Dr. Nick Martin. Upon completing his degree, he moved to the United States for what was supposed to be a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, as he felt that VIPBG was the best place to obtain advanced training in structural equation modeling and for learning methods involving both twin designs and molecular genetics. Thirteen years later, he is still at VIPBG, “married and living the American dream,” as he likes to put it.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”

Voltaire, French writer

Dr. Gillespie describes his current research as “many fingers, many pies,” because he has such a broad range of phenotypic interests. Addiction genetics is his primary area of interest. However, he is also interested in psychopathology, personality, brain imaging, and more broadly, the sources of individual differences.

Beyond research, Dr. Gillespie enjoys kite surfing, gelato making, tango, and carpentry.