Research Focus

Psychiatry

Area of Research

My special interest lies in investigating the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of deficits in emotion processing in mental health disorders, e.g. Disruptive Behaviour Disorders or autism. From my clinical experience, it seems evident that for example children and youths with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder have difficulties in understanding and regulating their emotions. However, as these children are characterized by very heterogeneous symptomatology, my team aimed to clarify whether specific neurocognitive and neurobiological correlates are related to various clinical subtypes, e.g. hot-tempered or cold-blooded aggression. In cooperation with national and international experts in the field (see for example (www.femNAT-cd.eu) we investigate the interplay between psychosocial and neurobiological risk factors on maladjustment in patients and in typically developing adolescents by using psychophysiological, endocrinological, and neurocognitive assessment tools. Currently, we are also highly interested in better understanding early individual, environmental, and societal risk factors contributing to deficient learning of emotion processing, including the use of digital media. Finally, we are working on further developing and testing more tailored intervention approaches for various vulnerable patient groups (e.g. adolescents in youth welfare institutions, and migrants) aiming to enhance emotion regulation and resilience.

• SNF funding (December 2013 - July 2017) Neural correlates of emotion processes in adolescents with conduct disorder
• FP7 EU funding (October 2013 – September 2018): Neurobiology and Treatment of Adolescent Female Conduct Disorder: The Central Role of Emotion Processing (www.femNAT-cd.eu): Collaborating partner in the cross-sectional and longitudinal trial, PI of the RCT multi-center intervention trial investigating the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral intervention in CD and studying neural correlates of emotion processing pre/post to intervention

National Collaborations
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International Collaborations

• femNAT consortium (www.femNAT-cd.eu)
• ENIGMA Antisocial Behaviour (https://enigma.ini.usc.edu/ongoing/enigma-antisocial-behavior)

• SNF funding (September 2019 – August 2022): Investigating the specificity of neuronal correlates for emotion processing deficits in conduct disorder and autism spectrum disorders
• Bundesamt für Justiz (April 2020 – Dezember 2024): Modellversuch – Entwicklung und Überprüfung einer e-Version des Skillstraining START NOW
• Gertrud Thalmann Fond (Februar 2023 –Dezember 2025): Adapting and testing the efficacy of culturally-adapted mental health interventions for conflict-affected migrant populations
• Forschungsfonds University of Basel (January 2021 – July 2023): Study on Mobile Phone Addiction, Relationship Ties, Social Interactions, Emotion Regulation, and Stress (SMARTIES)