Expert on linking genes to behavior will speak here

Robert Plomin

Dr. Robert Plomin, one of the world’s leading experts on the genetics of behavior, will present the Tjossem Memorial Lecture for the UW’s Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD).

Plomin will speak on “Genetics of Cognitive Abilities and Disabilities” at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 27, in room CD-150, the main auditorium, at CHDD. The lecture is free and open to everyone.

The speaker is a research professor of behavioral genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, England, and deputy director of the institute’s Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Center.

Plomin is known for merging genetic and environmental research strategies to investigate the development of behavior and temperament. For more than 30 years he has conducted studies, many involving twins raised apart and adopted children, to increase understanding of the roles played by genetics and environment as a person develops. Several of his studies, including the widely known Colorado Adoption Project, have involved long-term follow-up of participants.

In recent years, Plomin has been working with the techniques of molecular biology to identify specific genes related to psychological traits. His laboratory is now using molecular genetics and findings from the Human Genome Project to address fundamental questions about genetic bases of normal and abnormal behavior.

After earning a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas in Austin, Plomin taught at the University of Colorado from 1974 until 1986, when he moved to Pennsylvania State University. He was director of the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics at Penn State from 1990 to 1994, when he moved to London. His research work at the Institute of Psychiatry is supported by the British Medical Research Council.

He has been president of the Behavior Genetics Association, a distinguished scientist lecturer for the American Psychological Association, secretary of the American Psychological Society and a fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is editor of the Sage Series on Individual Differences and Development.

The Theodore D. Tjossem Memorial Lecture Series on Child Development and Developmental Disabilities, sponsored by CHDD, began in 1992. The late Dr. Tjossem received his Ph.D. in clinical and child psychology from the UW in 1959, worked as a clinician and faculty member at the University until 1964, and made significant contributions to founding CHDD. ¶