For the last 25 years, Gursharan Kalsi has been an active researcher in the field of molecular genetics, focusing primarily on psychiatric and behavioural genetics. During this period, the field has changed dramatically, from struggling to be taken seriously to its current position at the cutting edge of biomedical research. Following her doctoral training in schizophrenia genetics, she worked on the genetics of bipolar genetics and genomics of glutamate receptors. In recent years, the focus of her research has become addiction genetics.

Due to the difficulty in finding genes for complex disorders, there have been rapid changes in methodologies, lab technologies as well as development of innovative computational tools. This is an exciting field of research, as new advances mean that we can try to understand reward and behaviour by integrating genetic data with information from animal studies and neuroimaging studies through the use of sophisticated computer programs. In her current research on heroin dependence and anorexia nervosa, she is using contemporary technologies to identify novel genes for heroin dependence, as well as researching into mechanisms of addictive behaviour in humans.

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