Genes, Brains, and Emotions

Andrei C. Miu is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavioral Genetics at the Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, and the Founding Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, one of the leading research groups in the field of cognitive and affective science in Romania. His research investigates the psychological and biological mechanisms of emotion and emotion regulation, with the aim of uncovering individual differences that contribute to risk for psychopathology.

Dr. Judith Homberg obtained her PhD in 2004 at the Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam on preclinical research aiming to understand individual differences in vulnerability to drug addiction. Then she pursued a postdoc position at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht and generated and characterized knockout rats. One of the knockout rats involved the serotonin transporter knockout rat, which displays heightened emotional behaviour. After obtaining a personal subsidy from the Dutch government she started her own research group at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen in 2008. From this position she further built up her current research group focussing on the individual differences in behaviour and risk for stress-related disorders, with serotonin as main modulator.

Dr. Lesch has undergone training in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. His work has been focussing on the interdependent relationship between molecular, cellular and systems neurobiology and mechanisms of pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments related to neurodevelopmental and life-spanning psychiatric disorders using interdisciplinary and translational research strategies. In its scope, the Lesch lab's work is regarded as an interface with contributions to bridging the sizeable gap between basic molecular, neurobiologic and clinically applicable research. The work uncompromisingly integrates pertinent research strategies to elucidate mechanisms of pathologically altered synaptic plasticity (synaptopathy), intraneuronal signaling (neuronal dysregulation) and interneuronal communication (system dysfunction) as well as their impact on the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disease.

Rebecca Alexander, Research School of Psychology, ANU College of Health and Mediciene, Australian National University, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Australia
Bradley M. Avery, Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
Catherine Belzung, UMR 1253, iBrain, Universite de Tours, Inserm, Tours, France
Mirela I. Bilc, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Dorret I. Boomsma, Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, USA
Turhan Canli, Stony Brook University, USA
Danielle C. Cath, UMC Groningen, Department of Psychiatry and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
Airiss R. Chan, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada
Sven Cichon, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland
Jonathan R.I. Coleman, Department of Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
Annette Conzelmann, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Tubingen, Germany
John F. Cryan, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Ireland
Harriet de Wit, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, USA
Hanneke Den Ouden, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Mana R. Ehlers, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Thalia C. Eley, SGDP Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK
Daniela Felice, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Ireland
Megan Flom, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, USA
Emily Funsten, Program in Neuroscience, Middlebury College, USA
Justine Megan Gatt, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Australia
Ina Giegling, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Ilona Gorbovskaya, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada
Irving I. Gottesman (deceased), Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, USA
Joshua C. Gray, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, USA
Anand Gururajan, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Ireland
Waylon J. Hastings, Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Lisa Heltzel, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
Judith R Homberg, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
Wendy Johnson, Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Joan Kaufman, Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress, Kennedy Krieger Institute, USA and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
Richard Sang Lee, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA
Klaus-Peter Lesch, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Center of Mental Health, University of Wurzburg, Germany
Kathryn J. Lester, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK
Tina B. Lonsdorf, Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg, Germany
James MacKillop, Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, McMaster University, Canada
Andrei C. Miu, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Janitza L. Montalvo-Ortiz, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, USA
Erik M. Mueller, Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Germany
Thomas W. Muhleisen, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland
Daniel J. Muller, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada
Olivia F. O'Leary, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Ireland
Abraham A. Palmer, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, USA
Clarissa C. Parker, Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Middlebury College, USA
Paul Pauli, Department of Biological Psychology, clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Wurzburg, Germany
Alexander Prehn-Kristensen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Integrative Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany
Lukas Pezawas, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Ulrich Rabl, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Tobias Renner, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Tubingen, Germany
Karin Roelofs, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour & Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Dan Rujescu, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, USA
Vaibhav Sapuram, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
Kimberly J. Saudino, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Boston University,USA
Idan Shalev, Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Kayvon Sharif, Program in Neuroscience, Middlebury College, USA
Dirk J.A. Smit, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center location Meibergdreef, The Netherlands
Celine L. St. Pierre, Department of Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
M. Alexandre Surget, Departement de neurosciences, Universite de Tours, France
Rebecca M. Todd, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Jenny van Dongen, Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tatjana van Strien, Department of Clinical Psychology, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Inge Volman, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, UK
Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
Nuno R. Zilhao, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands