About
Associate Professor Miguel Rentería leads the Computational Neurogenomics Lab in the Brain and Mental Health Program at QIMR Berghofer. He holds an Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation and is an honorary Global Atlantic Fellow of the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco.
He completed a degree in Genomic Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Human Genetics at the University of Queensland. He was previously an NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development Fellow, undertaking postdoctoral training at the APDA Center for Advanced Parkinson’s Research, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States.
Miguel’s contributions have been recognised with numerous awards, including the 2025 QLD Young Tall Poppy Science Award (Australian Institute of Policy and Science), the 2024 Adèle Green Emerging Research Leadership Award (QIMR Berghofer), the 2021 Enrico Greppi International Migraine Research Award, a 2015 Chevening Scholarship, and honorary membership in Mexico’s National System of Investigators.
You can learn more about Associate Professor Rentería’s work and career in a 2025 interview with Genomic Psychiatry.
Research Skills
- Human Genetics
- Neuroimaging
- Machine Learning
- Epidemiology
- Real-World Evidence
- Statistical Genetics
- Science Policy
Area of Interest
Our lab uses advanced data analytics and large global datasets to investigate the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders, chronic pain, dementia, and self-harm.
Associate Professor Rentería is the Principal Investigator of the Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study, which aims to decode the genetic origins of Parkinson’s disease to enable the development of novel therapies. More than 20,000 Australians (including >11,000 living with Parkinson's disease) have volunteered to be part of the study.
Professional Associations
- International Society for Computational Biology
- International Society of Psychiatric Genetics
- Society for Biological Psychiatry
- World Sleep Society
Funding
- Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, Australia
- National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia
- Medical Research Future Fund, Australia
- IMPACT Philantropy Perpetual Ltd, Australia
- Shake It Up Australia Foundation, Australia
- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, USA
- National Institute of Mental Health, USA
- American Parkinson’s Disease Association, USA
- Alzheimer’s Association, USA
Publications
Diaz-Torres S, Lee SSY., García-Marín LM, Campos AI, Lingham G, Ong JS, Mackey D, Burdon K, Hunter M, MacGregor S, Dong X, Gharahkhani P, & Renteria ME (2024). Uncovering novel genetic loci and biological pathways associated with age-related cataracts through GWAS meta-analysis, Nature Communications 15, 9116 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53212-6
Campos AI, Ingold N, Huang Y, Mitchell BL, Kho PF, Han X, García-Marín LM, Ong JS, 23andMe Research Team, Law MH, Yokoyama JS, Martin NG, Dong X, Cuellar-Partida G, MacGregor S, Aslibekyan S, Rentería ME, Discovery of genomic loci associated with sleep apnoea risk through multi-trait GWAS analysis with snoring. SLEEP (2023), zsac308, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac308
García-Marín, LM, Reyes-Pérez, P, Diaz-Torres, S Medina-Rivera A, Martin NG, Mitchell BL, Rentería ME Shared molecular genetic factors influence subcortical brain morphometry and Parkinson’s disease risk. NPJ Parkinson's disease. 9, 73 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-023-00515-y