The Centre for Urban Mental Health, aims to unravel new pathways to improve urban mental health that takes into account the complexities and dynamics of mental health problems and mental health disorders in an urban environment.

Genetic Architecture of a Social Construct

Socio-economic status (SES) is widely understood as a social construct, yet it shows a measurable genetic architecture. This talk examines how genetic signals associated with education, income, and occupation arise and persist. Abdel will argue that society does not just reflect genetic differences but actively shapes and amplifies them through processes like selective migration, gene–environment correlations, and assortative mating.

These dynamics cause genes and environment to become correlated in ways that compound inequalities in physical and mental health outcomes. Genomics can help us understand SES as a product of both social and biological forces, offering insights into inequality, population structure, and the dynamics between nature and nurture.

About Abdel Abdellaoui

Abdel Abdellaoui is an associate professor at Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, who has been involved in a wide range of studies on psychiatric genetics, behavioural genetics, and population genetics. He is particularly interested in how collective behaviours, such as migration and mate-choice, influence the genetic make-up of populations and the relationship between genetic risk factors and environmental exposures, and how these dynamics contribute to inequalities in mental and physical health outcomes.

If you do not have access to the IAS building, please email us in advance on assistent.umh@amsterdamumc.nl. 

Please send an email in advance to assistent.umh@amsterdamumc.nl if you do not have access to the IAS building. The lecture will be held on the second floor, so when you arrive please come straight up.