معرفی
Sabina Berretta, MD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an investigator at McLean Hospital, where she directs a laboratory focused on the molecular and cellular pathology of psychiatric disorders.
Academic Affiliations:
- Harvard Medical School – Department of Psychiatry
- McLean Hospital – Belmont, Massachusetts
Research Focus: The Berretta laboratory investigates how molecular and cellular abnormalities disrupt brain circuits underlying emotion regulation. A central theme is the role of the amygdala in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with particular emphasis on circadian control of gene expression and the involvement of extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as perineuronal nets (PNNs) and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Recent work demonstrates that circadian patterns of somatostatin expression in the human amygdala are disturbed in bipolar disorder, while ECM abnormalities in the thalamic reticular nucleus may contribute to thalamo-cortical disconnectivity in schizophrenia.
Methodological Approaches: The group integrates single-cell RNA-sequencing, spatial multi-omics, quantitative mass spectrometry, and natural language processing of clinical records to dissect disease mechanisms across brain regions, cell types, and peripheral tissues.
Publication Landscape (2019–2025): Over this period, Dr. Berretta has co-authored more than 40 high-impact papers. These publications reveal a trajectory from foundational neuropathological descriptions of ECM alterations to cutting-edge systems-biology analyses of PTSD, major depressive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and suicide. Notable studies include multi-cohort single-nucleus transcriptomic atlases of Parkinson’s disease, identification of somatic DNA-repeat expansions driving neurodegeneration, and integrative glycomic-proteomic dissections of myelinated versus non-myelinated brain regions in psychiatric disease.
Scientific Awards & Recognition: While specific awards are not detailed in the provided text, Dr. Berretta’s sustained publication record in Nature, Cell, Science, and JAMA Psychiatry underscores international recognition for her contributions to the molecular understanding of serious mental illness.
Collaborations & Funding: She collaborates extensively with the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium PTSD Working Group, the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, and multiple NIH-funded initiatives. Her work bridges basic neuroscience and clinical psychiatry, positioning her laboratory at the forefront of precision psychiatry research.
Laboratory Website: Berretta Laboratory at McLean Hospital
