Professor Darryl Eyles
Honorary Professor
Conjoint Professor
Affiliate of the Centre for RNA in Neuroscience
+61 7 334 66370
d.eyles@uq.edu.au
d.eyles@uq.edu.au
Our research
Maternal vitamin D
The lab identified low maternal vitamin D during pregnancy as a risk factor for schizophrenia and autism, leading to more than 15 international collaborations and significant funding from the NIH and NHMRC.
Preventative Vitamin D
The team have demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation prevents key behavioural and biological abnormalities in a maternal immune activation model of schizophrenia, highlighting its therapeutic potential.
Dopamine development
The lab have shown that major prenatal risk factors converge to disrupt dopamine neuron development. These changes affect early differentiation, positioning, and connectivity, suggesting schizophrenia originates from early neurodevelopmental disruption.
Sex Differences in Autism
The lab's research has identified molecular pathways linking maternal vitamin D deficiency to increased testosterone in the developing brain, providing insight into the higher prevalence of autism in males.
Modelling early Schizophrenia progression
The team developed a preclinical model that reproduces early dopamine dysfunction in the dorsal striatum. Using genetic tools, they have replicated progressive dopamine abnormalities across adolescence.
Using this model, the lab investigate:
- Circuit dysfunction in schizophrenia
- Midbrain neuroinflammation
- Interactions with stress and psychoactive compounds
- Preventative strategies to delay or stop disease onset
Latest news
- A University of Queensland (UQ) research team led by Professor Darryl Eyles has developed a novel intranasal formulation of clozapine that could transform the treatment of schizophrenia.
- Svetlina Vasileva, a PhD student in the Eyles lab, has led a study to explore associations between the composition of the gut microbiome, schizophrenia and its treatment.
- Researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute have secured more than $3.2million in National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grants.
- A deficiency in vitamin D on the mother’s side could explain why autism spectrum disorder is three times more common in boys.
- QBI researcher Anastasia Brandon's research into schizophrenia is up for nomination at the 2020 Queensland Women in STEM Prize.
- Professor John McGrath and Dr James Kesby have been honoured for their work advancing our understanding of schizophrenia.