Ashley Lynn Lütticke

Due to their complex social, psychological and environmental nature, severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are compelling candidates for translational psychiatric research. Working under the supervision of Prof. Thomas G. Schulze at the Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics, I will investigate the involvement of environmental exposures and epigenetic mechanisms on the longitudinal course of severe mental illness. This work aims to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms by which stressful life events evoke lasting changes on psychiatric disease morbidity. Taken together, results from these studies and their integration with other laboratory and clinical endpoints have the potential to change how patients are handled by contributing an improved biological understanding and setting new personalized care priorities.

Through the structured IMPRS-TP program, I will gain exposure to diverse fields of psychiatric research and insight from experts in a range of specialties including bioinformatics and genomics. Working closely with clinicians at the IPPG, I will have the unique opportunity to deepen my clinical perspective of psychiatric disorders. The collaboration with such a multi-disciplinary team of mentors will greatly enrich my knowledge and research in translational psychiatry.