Damien is a PhD student at the SGDP supervised by Dr Stuart Ritchie and Professor Robert Plomin. His current research interests are in the quantitative genetics of socioeconomic outcomes and their associated traits with a particular focus on how genetic and environmental influences on these change (or fail to change) over time in response to changes in public policy.

Damien is also the Director of Futureproof – a research and public affairs consultancy focused on addressing social challenges arising from technological advances. He was previously Head of Policy at the climate change think-tank Sandbag (now rebranded in the UK as Ember).

Academic qualifications

• MSc Genes, Environment and Development in Psychology and Psychiatry (King’s College London)
• BA (Hons) Philosophy, Social Theory (The University of Melbourne)

Research interests

• Identifying modifiers of genetic and environmental influences on socioeconomic outcomes
• Identifying modifiers of genetic and environmental influences on general and specific cognitive abilities
• Longitudinal twin models
• Meta-analysis and meta-regression
• Social science genomics, political philosophy, and public policy

Awards

• King’s-ESRC Multidisciplinary PhD Studentship awarded by the MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, 2019-2022.