Thomas Lehner

The late Dr. Thomas Lehner was a pioneering figure in genomics, serving as the Scientific Director of Neuropsychiatric Disease Genomics at the New York Genome Center. A University of Vienna Ph. D. graduate, he had a distinguished 15-year tenure at the National Institute of Mental Health, driving major research initiatives into complex mental illnesses.

Dr. Lehner was remembered not only as an exceptional scientist but also for his kindness, warmth, and humility. He was a generous mentor dedicated to inspiring early-career researchers and was deeply committed to his family, friends, and community, fostering a collaborative and uplifting environment for those around him.

He was instrumental in conceiving and developing the PsychENCODE Consortium, a major NIH initiative to create a public resource of genomic data from human brains.