Christine Heim
Professor and Director of Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, GermanyAbout the author:
We conduct studies in humans to identify the mechanisms that translate exposure to early-life stress, such as maltreatment, abuse or neglect, into increased risk for psychiatric and medical disorders across the lifespan. We focus on neurobiological and neural changes that contribute to stress vulnerability and disease risk after child maltreatment and other early-life stressors. Additional collaborative research focuses on molecular mechanisms of gene x environment interactions in the immediate consequences of child maltreatment as well as the transgenerational transmission of the effects of early-life stress. At present, we use multi-level longitudinal approaches in children to further elucidate the immediate early mechanisms that contribute to the biological embedding of child maltreatment.
What I want to achieve:
With this research, we hope to identify novel targets for early mechanistic interventions, as well as markers of risk versus resilience and markers of susceptibility for specific interventions, leading towards personalized approaches in the treatment of the consequence of early-life stress.