Dr Katherine Gordon-Smith

dr-katherine-gordon-smith

Senior Research Fellow in Psychological Medicine

Mood Disorders Research Group

Contact Details

email: k.gordon-smith@worc.ac.uk

Katherine joined the University of Worcester in October 2015 previously working as Postdoctoral Researcher within the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University and then as a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.

The broad aims of her research are to investigate genetic and other factors that may contribute to the aetiology of bipolar disorder and other related mood and psychotic illnesses, such as schizoaffective disorder and postpartum psychosis.

Katherine is Deputy Chair of the Health and Science Research Ethics Panel.

 

Qualifications

PhD Psychiatric Genetics - Cardiff University.
Diploma in Research Methods (with distinction) - Cardiff University.
BSc (Combined Hons) Psychology & Biology - Aston University.

Research

She was one of the co-founders of the Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN), a group of researchers, clinicians and research participants in the UK involved in investigating the underlying causes of bipolar disorder. More than 7500 participants have been recruited to BDRN, which is one the largest sample of individuals with bipolar disorder in the world.

Katherine’s particular research interest is co-morbidities in bipolar disorder including migraine and anxiety. She has overseen the running of the mood monitoring system True Colours, which was developed in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Oxford.  The system has delivered a vast amount of data to help understand more about how mood symptoms present over time in individuals with bipolar disorder and how they are affected by changes in routines such as sleep.

Katherine works closely with BDRN research champions, research participants with lived experience of bipolar disorder, who have provided expert advice and input into the BDRN research programme and True Colours.

Teaching

Katherine teaches on mood disorders, perinatal mental health, research ethics and quantitative research methods across a range of disciplines, including, midwifery, advanced clinical practice and paramedic science and psychology. She supervises a number of undergraduate and postgraduate taught research projects each year and runs sessions on the postgraduate Researcher Development Programme.

Postgraduate supervision

Krista Easton, current PhD student (Supervisor): Autism spectrum conditions in bipolar disorder

Matthew Newell, current PhD student (Supervisor): Trauma and bipolar disorder

Ian Laws, current PhD student (Supervisor): Autoimmune disease and bipolar disorder

Emma Tickle, PhD completed 2022 (Supervisor) Examining the prevalence, clinical correlates and perceived impact of a borderline personality disorder diagnosis in individuals with bipolar disorder in the UK.

Amy Perry, PhD completed 2019 (Supervisor) Investigating risk factors for postpartum psychosis in bipolar disorder

 

Memberships

Bipolar Disorder Research Network

British Psychological Society

International Society of Psychiatric Genetics

International Society for Bipolar Disorders

International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health

Publications

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Total to date 104; h-index 51 (August 2024)

Link to Google Scholar profile page:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=gMdTJjQAAAAJ

 

2024 selected publications

Gordon-Smith, K., Hampshire, C., Mahoney, B., Perry, A., Lewis, K. J. S., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2024). Opportunities to engage in positive activities during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of individuals with mood disorders. Journal of affective disorders, 345, 186–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.135

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Lewis, K. J. S., Di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2024). Perinatal sleep disruption and postpartum psychosis in bipolar disorder: Findings from the UK BDRN Pregnancy Study. Journal of affective disorders, 346, 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.11.005

Jonsson, L., Hörbeck, E., Primerano, A., Song, J., Karlsson, R., Smedler, E., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., Craddock, N., Jones, I., Sullivan, P. F., Pålsson, E., Di Florio, A., Sparding, T., & Landén, M. (2024). Association of Occupational Dysfunction and Hospital Admissions With Different Polygenic Profiles in Bipolar Disorder. The American journal of psychiatry, 181(7), 620–629. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20230073

Song, J., Jonsson, L., Lu, Y., Bergen, S. E., Karlsson, R., Smedler, E., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, I., Jones, L., Craddock, N., Sullivan, P. F., Lichtenstein, P., Di Florio, A., & Landén, M. (2024). Key subphenotypes of bipolar disorder are differentially associated with polygenic liabilities for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder. Molecular psychiatry, 10.1038/s41380-024-02448-1. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02448-1

 

2023 selected publications

Gordon-Smith, K., Saunders, K. E. A., Morton, T., Savage, J., South, M., Geddes, J., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2023). User perspectives on long-term remote active electronic self-monitoring of mood symptoms in bipolar spectrum disorders. Journal of affective disorders, 324, 325–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.090

Allardyce, J., Cardno, A. G., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., Di Florio, A., Walters, J. T. R., Holmans, P. A., Craddock, N. J., Jones, I., Owen, M. J., Escott-Price, V., & O'Donovan, M. C. (2023). Specificity of polygenic signatures across symptom dimensions in bipolar disorder: an analysis of UK Bipolar Disorder Research Network data. The lancet. Psychiatry, 10(8), 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00186-4

Casanova Dias, M., Kelson, M., Gordon-Smith, K., Perry, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., Di Florio, A., & Jones, I. (2023). Borderline personality traits are differently associated with postpartum psychosis and postpartum depression episodes in women with bipolar disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 328, 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.124.

Lewis, K. J. S., Tilling, K., Gordon-Smith, K., Saunders, K. E. A., Di Florio, A., Jones, L., Jones, I., O'Donovan, M. C., & Heron, J. (2023). The dynamic interplay between sleep and mood: an intensive longitudinal study of individuals with bipolar disorder. Psychological medicine, 53(8), 3345–3354. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721005377

 

2022 selected publications

Bolton, S., Joyce, D. W., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., Jones, I., Geddes, J., & Saunders, K. E. A. (2022). Psychosocial markers of age at onset in bipolar disorder: a machine learning approach. BJPsych Open, 8(4), e133. https://doi.org/10.1192/BJO.2022.536

Lewis, K. J. S., Gordon-Smith, K., Saunders, K. E. A., Dolman, C., South, M., Geddes, J., Craddock, N., Di Florio, A., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2022). Mental health prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with bipolar disorder: Insights from prospective longitudinal data. Bipolar disorders, 24(6), 658–666. https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.13204

Richards, A. L., Cardno, A., Harold, G., Craddock, N. J., Di Florio, A., Jones, L., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, I., Sellers, R., Walters, J. T. R., Holmans, P. A., Owen, M. J., & O'Donovan, M. C. (2022). Genetic Liabilities Differentiating Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Major Depressive Disorder, and Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Bipolar Disorder. JAMA psychiatry, 79(10), 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2594

 

2021 selected publications

Gordon-Smith, K., Ridley, P., Perry, A., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2021). Migraine associated with early onset postpartum depression in women with major depressive disorder. Archives of women's mental health, 24(6), 949–955.

Gordon-Smith, K., Saunders, K. E., Savage, J., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2021). Have I argued with my family this week?": What questions do those with lived experience choose to monitor their bipolar disorder?. Journal of affective disorders, 281, 918–925.

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2021). Phenomenology, Epidemiology and Aetiology of Postpartum Psychosis: A Review. Brain sciences, 11(1), E47.

Perry, A., Gordon-Smith, K., Di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, L., & Jones, I. (2021). Mood episodes in pregnancy and risk of postpartum recurrence in bipolar disorder: The Bipolar Disorder Research Network Pregnancy Study. Journal of affective disorders, 294, 714–722.

Di Florio, A., Mei Kay Yang, J., Crawford, K., Bergink, V., Leonenko, G., Pardiñas, A. F., Escott-Price, V., Gordon-Smith, K., Owen, M. J., Craddock, N., Jones, L., O'Donovan, M., & Jones, I. (2021). Post-partum psychosis and its association with bipolar disorder in the UK: a case-control study using polygenic risk scores. The lancet. Psychiatry, 8(12), 1045–1052.

Saunders, K., Jones, T., Perry, A., Di Florio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, I., Gordon-Smith, K., & Jones, L. (2021). The influence of borderline personality traits on clinical outcomes in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorders, 23(4), 368–375.

The Bipolar Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. (2021) Genome-wide association study of over 40,000 bipolar disorder cases provides novel biological insights.   Nature genetics53(6), 817–829. 

 

2020 selected publications

Gordon-Smith, K., Lewis, K., Vallejo Auñón, F. M., Di Florio, A., Perry, A., Craddock, N., Jones, I., & Jones, L. (2020). Patterns and clinical correlates of lifetime alcohol consumption in women and men with bipolar disorder: Findings from the UK Bipolar Disorder Research Network. Bipolar disorders22(7), 731–738. 

Gordon-Smith K, Perry A, Di Florio A, Forty L, Fraser C, Casanova-Dias M, Warne N, MacDonald T, Craddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Symptom profile of postpartum and non-postpartum manic episodes in bipolar I disorder: a within-subjects study (2020). Psychiatry Research, 284, 112748. 

Perry A, Gordon-Smith K, Di Florio A, Fraser C, Craddock N, Jones L and Jones I. Adverse childhood experiences and postpartum depression in bipolar disorder (2020). Journal of Affective Disorders, 263: 661-666

Marwaha, S., Briley, P. M., Perry, A., Rankin, P., DiFlorio, A., Craddock, N., Jones, I., Broome, M., Gordon-Smith, K., & Jones, L. (2020). Bipolar disorder: a path analysis of 923 people with bipolar I disorder. Psychological medicine50(14), 2346–2354.

Lewis, K., Richards, A., Karlsson, R., Leonenko, G., Jones, S. E., Jones, H. J., Gordon-Smith, K., Forty, L., Escott-Price, V., Owen, M. J., Weedon, M. N., Jones, L., Craddock, N., Jones, I., Landén, M., O'Donovan, M. C., & Di Florio, A. (2020). Comparison of Genetic Liability for Sleep Traits Among Individuals With Bipolar Disorder I or II and Control Participants. JAMA psychiatry77(3), 303–310. 

 

External responsibilities

Katherine has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences. She regularly presents research findings and updates at research meetings and to healthcare professionals and patient support groups.

She is a review editor for Frontiers in Psychiatry: Mood and Anxiety Disorders.

Katherine is a peer reviewer for the academic journals Bipolar Disorders, Journal of Affective disorders, Frontiers in Psychiatry and the British Journal of Psychiatry.