معرفی
PD Dr. Stephanie Witt is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University. Her research focuses on understanding the biological and environmental bases of psychiatric disorders, particularly bipolar disorder, depression, and addiction, with an emphasis on epigenetic mechanisms and ethical implications. She leads studies on genetic risk scores, circadian-immune interactions in mental health, and longitudinal phenotyping in families with high psychiatric disorder prevalence. Dr. Witt is actively involved in major grants including the German Research Foundation's TRR 265 (ReCoDe) and FOR2107, as well as EU and BMBF-funded projects like AERIAL and SysMedSUDs. She has published extensively on topics ranging from alcohol withdrawal epigenetics to ethical challenges in psychiatric genetic testing. Her work bridges clinical psychiatry with translational research, addressing both scientific and ethical dimensions of mental health genetics.
- Key Affiliations: Central Institute of Mental Health (Mannheim)
- Grants: GRK 2350/1, TRR 265/1, FOR2107, BMBF projects (01EW1904, 01ZX1909A)
Her research interests integrate genomic analysis, biostatistics, and ethical inquiry, examining how genetic and environmental factors interact in mental illness. Recent studies highlight the role of DNA methylation in addiction recovery and the mediating effects of maternal smoking on birth weight. She collaborates internationally on projects like the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, contributing to large-scale GWAS initiatives.
