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Overview

Martin KennedyHead of Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Christchurch
Director, Gene Structure and Function Laboratory
Carney Centre for Pharmacogenomics

Email martin.kennedy@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 244 1092

Professor Kennedy obtained his BSc(Hons) at University of Canterbury, and his PhD in bacterial genetics at the University of Auckland, and carried out postdoctoral research in leukaemia genetics at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge (UK) before returning to University of Otago, Christchurch in 1991.

His current research focuses mainly on psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenomics, and the genetics of complex disease.

Research interests

Professor Kennedy’s research centres on the application of molecular genetics and genomics methods to the understanding and treatment of disease. He has studied genes involved in leukaemia, Mendelian disease, and many complex human disorders including addiction, depression, eating disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neuropsychiatric conditions.

His psychiatric genetics work has been in collaboration with the international  Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and Christchurch Health and Development Study. Over the past decade, Professor Kennedy has directed (jointly with Associate Professor Jenny Jordan) a series of major studies focusing on the genetics of eating disorders (called ANGI and Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI)).

In parallel with these genetic studies of disease aetiology, he has extensively researched the impact of genetic variability on drug responses (pharmacogenetics).

Professor Martin Kennedy's main research interests are psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenomics, and the genetics of complex disease.

This includes analysis of genetic variation in genes such as those that encode drug metabolising liver enzymes like CYP2D6 and CYP2C19, which is helping to clarify genetic factors that impact on response to treatments for various diseases. This work has been largely supported by donations from the Jim and Mary Carney Charitable Trust (Whangarei).

Useful information

Similar research opportunities

Publications

Robertson, S. P., Halliday, B. J., Tibble, R., Koia, C., Haereroa, T., Goodin, E., … Te Aika, B., … Kennedy, M. A., … Markie, D. M., … Wilcox, P. L., & Puketapu-Watson, H. (2026). A primary care pharmacogenetic precision medicine pilot based on specific Māori tribal ethical frameworks and principles. Journal of Community Genetics, 17, 79. doi: 10.1007/s12687-026-00914-7 Journal - Research Article

Hitchman, L., Kerekere, T. W. A., Miller, A. L., Goodin, E., Koia, C., Watson, H., … Robertson, S. P., Wilcox, P., & Kennedy, M. A. (2026). Allelic diversity of the pharmacogenes CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 in Māori from Te Tairāwhiti, Aotearoa New Zealand. Frontiers in Genetics, 17, 1668409. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2026.1668409 Journal - Research Other

Strom, N. I., Verhulst, B., Bacanu, S.-A., Cheesman, R., Purves, K. L., Gedik, H., … Kennedy, M. A., Boden, J., … Horwood, J., … Hettema, J. M. (2026). Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling. Nature Genetics, 58(2), 275-288. doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02485-8 Journal - Research Article

Schaumberg, K., Watson, H. J., Thornton, L. M., Kennedy, H. L., Ong, S. H., Roche, P., … Pettie, M. A., … Jordan, J., Kennedy, M. A., … Bulik, C. M. (2026). Assessment of maladaptive exercise history among individuals with eating disorders: Validation of a brief, self-report measure. European Eating Disorders Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/erv.70084 Journal - Research Article

Grotzinger, A. D., Werme, J., Peyrot, W. J., Frei, O., de Leeuw, C., Bicks, L. K., … Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, including Jordan, J., Kennedy, M. A., … Substance Use Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, including Pearson, J. F., … Smoller, J. W. (2026). Mapping the genetic landscape across 14 psychiatric disorders. Nature, 649(8096), 406-415. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09820-3 Journal - Research Article

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