Neuroscience Ireland Conference 2025
Conference Speaker Profile
Prof. Daniel Smith
University of Edinburgh,
Scotland
Talk Title
A circadian neuroscience perspective on bipolar disorder
Talk Abstract
Traditionally bipolar disorder is considered a mood disorder (characterised by episodes of mania and depression) but the fundamental importance of circadian dysregulation to the pathophysiology and symptoms of bipolar disorder is now increasingly recognised.
This presentation will argue that sleep and circadian aspects of bipolar disorder have been neglected in previous research and that they represent new opportunities for better assessment, diagnosis and treatment (for example, with chronotherapies).
I will discuss some of our on-going projects in this area, specifically the Wellcome HELIOS-BD study "Lithium's mechanism in bipolar disorder: Investigating the light hypersensitivity hypothesis" and the Wellcome AMBIENT-BD study "Using sleep and circadian rhythms data to understand trajectories and clinical outcomes in bipolar disorder"; as well as some of the work of the MRC Circadian Mental Health Research Network.
Speaker Biography
Daniel Smith is Chair of Psychiatry, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh. He has a longstanding clinical and research interest in the causes and treatment of bipolar disorder and is Medical Adviser to Bipolar Scotland. He runs a specialist clinic for bipolar disorder within NHS Lothian.
Professor Smith is Co-Director of the Edinburgh Mental Health Network and Director of the MRC UK Mental Health and Circadian Science Network. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) for two programme grants funded by the Wellcome Trust: HELIOS-BD (Lithium's mechanism in bipolar disorder: investigating the light hypersensitivity hypothesis) and AMBIENT-BD (Ambient and passive collection of sleep and circadian rhythm data in bipolar disorder to understand symptom trajectories and clinical outcomes). He also leads the new MRC Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry.
Professor Smith grew up in Belfast and studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh (BSc 1994, MB ChB 1996) and trained in psychiatry in Glasgow. He completed a clinical research training fellowship and doctorate in Edinburgh (MD 2006) and has a Masters in Affective Neuroscience from Maastricht (MSc 2006). He then held an NIHR postdoctoral research fellowship and senior clinical lectureship at Cardiff University (2006-2012), moved to the University of Glasgow as Reader in Psychiatry in 2012, and was promoted to a personal chair in 2014. He joined the University of Edinburgh as Chair of Psychiatry in 2021.