Dr. Anne Bassett is a senior clinician scientist within the Schizophrenia Division and heads the Clinical Genetics Research Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
She is a full professor in the Department of Psychiatry and inaugural Dalglish Chair in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome at the University of Toronto and University Health Network (UHN), and is a senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, with cross-appointments in the Division of Cardiology and the Department of Mental Health at UHN.
In 2020, she was awarded the Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation — only one other Canadian has received this honour. More recently, she received the Order of Canada.
Areas of Research
Dr. Bassett is an internationally renowned expert in the genetics of schizophrenia and other complex developmental disorders, including congenital cardiac disease.
The goal of her research is to gain new insights into etiology and mechanisms of illness that will enable development of novel treatment and prevention strategies. She is the principal investigator of studies on the genetic architecture of schizophrenia and characterization of clinically relevant genetic subtypes of schizophrenia. Dr. Bassett has pioneered studies of the first molecular subtype of schizophrenia individuals with a 22q11.2 microdeletion. Dr. Bassett’s work has shown that about one in every 20 to 25 patients with schizophrenia has this or another clinically relevant genetic change detectable with standard clinical genetic testing.
As a leader in Medical Psychiatry and translating genetic research findings directly into clinical practice, Dr. Bassett’s career embodies precision medicine, and includes teaching at all levels, as well as extensive public service.
Publications
View Dr. Bassett's publications on PubMed.