For over 25 years Dr. Byerley has focused his research on the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder using the latest in molecular genetics methods. His laboratory completed the first genome-wide linkage studies of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, which indicated that both illnesses were complex genetic diseases. Dr. Byerley conducts his research at UCSF’s Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, but he has a special interest in investigating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in isolated locales across the globe where populations tend to be more closely related genetically. He and his group have done gene-mapping studies of schizophrenia using the isolated populations of Palau, Micronesia and Costa Rica.

Dr. Byerley is a member of the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium, a multi-investigator group devoted to understanding the neurobiological basis of mood disorders and schizophrenia. A recipient of a distinguished teaching award, Dr. Byerley has mentored over 20 undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral students, psychiatry residents and junior faculty members.