Melanie Föcking

Dr. Melanie Föcking is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), based at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. She joined RCSI in 2004 as a Research Fellow and transitioned to Lecturer (2005–2023) before her current role. Her research focuses on psychiatric neuroscience, particularly proteomic investigations of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychosis biomarkers, with emphasis on complement/coagulation pathways and neuroinflammation.

Föcking holds an MSc from the University of Giessen (1998), a PhD from the Max Planck Institute/University of Maastricht (2003), a postgraduate diploma in Health Professions Education (2019), and an HDip in Leadership (2008). She is fluent in German, English, and Dutch.

Her research integrates proteomics, immunopsychiatry, and clinical neuroscience to identify biomarkers for psychosis transition and treatment response. Recent work explores inflammatory dysregulation (e.g., complement proteins, matrix metalloproteinases) in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, cannabis-related neuroinflammation, and omega-3 fatty acid mechanisms. A consistent theme is the transdiagnostic role of inflammation across psychiatric conditions.

Föcking received the Investigator Prize (2018), Young Investigator Award (2013), and Travel Fellowship (2010). As Neuroscience Module Lead at RCSI, she oversees curriculum development for medicine and physiotherapy students, coordinates student research programs, and mentors PhD/MSc/summer students. She secured grants from the Health Research Board, Wellcome Trust, and Science Foundation Ireland for projects on postsynaptic density proteomics, psychosis biomarkers, and nutritional interventions.