We employ a highly multidisciplinary approach, from gene to brain to behaviour, to generate a more complete understanding of the biological mechanisms that determine whether someone develops a disorder or not. This entails complementing our large-scale genomics studies with in vitro and in vivo investigations of gene expression, protein levels, and markers of metabolic activity, as well as MRI scans of the brain and body and effect of lifestyle and environmental stressors.
We focus on key research lines:
- Imaging genetics; we investigate the genetic determinants of brain structure and connectivity in the general population and clinical groups, using state-of-the-art MRI preprocessing pipelines and large longitudinal cohorts.
- Stem cell experiments; we develop and apply high quality brain organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells obtained from deeply phenotyped patients with brain disorders. This work includes advanced gene editing, and functional characterization, including electrophysiology.
- Metabolic psychiatry; we investigate how blood markers of metabolic activity are associated with a range of psychiatric and brain traits, leveraging newly available big data.
Combining our unique big data samples with longstanding biostatistics expertise and novel methods development, we integrate across these biological levels to identify causal, mediating molecular pathways, optimizing biological insights.
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van der Meer D, Kaufmann T, Shadrin AA, Makowski C, Frei O, Roelfs D, Monereo-Sánchez J, Linden DEJ, Rokicki J, Alnæs D, de Leeuw C, Thompson WK, Loughnan R, Fan CC, Westlye LT, Andreassen OA, Dale AM. The genetic architecture of human cortical folding. Sci Adv. 2021 Dec 17;7(51):eabj9446. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj9446.
van der Meer D, Shadrin A, Stinson S, Koch E, Rokicki J, Rahman Z, Bergstedt J, Ottas A, Sonderby I, Rodevand L. Divergent patterns of genetic overlap between severe mental disorders and metabolic markers. Preprint, medRxiv 2024–11.
van der Meer D, Kopal J, Shadrin A, Fuhrer J, Rokicki J, Stinson S, Djurovic S, Dale AM, Andreassen OA. Atlas of plasma metabolic markers linked to human brain morphology. Preprint, bioRxiv 2025.01.12.632645.
Wilson MN, Thunemann M, Liu X, Lu Y, Puppo F, Adams JW, Kim JH, Ramezani M, Pizzo DP, Djurovic S, Andreassen OA, Mansour AA, Gage FH, Muotri AR, Devor A, Kuzum D. Multimodal monitoring of human cortical organoids implanted in mice reveal functional connection with visual cortex. Nat Commun. 2022 Dec 26;13(1):7945. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35536-3.
Akkouh IA, Ueland T, Szabo A, Hughes T, Smeland OB, Andreassen OA, Osete JR, Djurovic S. Longitudinal Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Cortical Spheroids Identifies Axonal Dysregulation in the Prenatal Brain as a Mediator of Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 1;95(7):687-698. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.08.017.
Akkouh IA, Hughes T, Steen VM, Glover JC, Andreassen OA, Djurovic S, Szabo A. Transcriptome analysis reveals disparate expression of inflammation-related miRNAs and their gene targets in iPSC-astrocytes from people with schizophrenia. Brain Behav Immun. 2021 May;94:235-244. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.01.037.
Szabo A, Akkouh I, Osete JR, de Assis DR, Kondratskaya E, Hughes T, Ueland T, Andreassen OA, Djurovic S. NLRP3 inflammasome mediates astroglial dysregulation of innate and adaptive immune responses in schizophrenia. Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Feb;124:144-156. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.11.030.
Szabo A, O'Connell KS, Ueland T, Sheikh MA, Agartz I, Andreou D, Aukrust P, Boye B, Bøen E, Drange OK, Elvsåshagen T, Engh JA, Hope S, Collier Høegh M, Joa I, Johnsen E, Kroken RA, Vik Lagerberg T, Lekva T, Malt UF, Melle I, Morken G, Nærland T, Steen VM, Sørensen K, Wedervang-Resell K, Auten Weibell M, Westlye LT, Steen NE, Andreassen O, Djurovic S. Increased circulating IL-18 levels in severe mental disorders indicate systemic inflammasome activation. Brain Behav Immun. 2022 Jan;99:299-306. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.10.017.