Research interests
People differ in their susceptibility to mental health problems. Our research investigates how biological and environmental factors interact to shape brain function, behaviour, and mental health. We focus on two major questions: how fluctuations in gonadal hormones influence women’s mental health, and how early-life experiences and substance exposure alter vulnerability to mental illness.
We integrate omics, endocrinology, pharmacology, neurophysiology, neuroimaging, and population-based research to move from biological mechanisms to clinically meaningful biomarkers. Our goal is not only to understand why individuals differ in vulnerability and resilience, but also to translate these insights into better diagnosis, prevention, and personalized treatment.
Key findings of our studies have contributed to advance mechanistic understanding of hormone-related psychiatric conditions associated with reproductive life stages (e.g. Am J Psychiatry; doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20030286).
Group members
Erika Comasco, Professor
Manon Dubol, postdoc
Xuan Gu, postdoc
Elisavet Kaltsouni, researcher
Julia Breedh, PhD student
Ella Schleimann-Jensen, PhD student
Elin Stenhammar, PhD student
Ylva Walldén, PhD student
Anat Biegon, professor emeritus
Josefine Hugosson, research assistant