Matosin, Natalie Dr

How stress manifests as mental illness is a global concern, with WHO projecting that stress-induced mental illnesses (e.g. PTSD, depression and anxiety) will account for over one third of the global burden of disease by 2030. To develop treatments and preventatives, it is critical to understand the mechanisms of how stressors manifest mental illness.

I am a brain biologist and NHMRC CJ Martin Early Career Research Fellow with a joint appointment at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in Australia and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (MPIP) in Germany; MPIP is among the world’s leading institutions for examining the effects of stress on the development of mental illness. 

My research goals are to study stressed and traumatised populations to understand the genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic factors that manifest mental illness. I am also interested in how these 'signatures of trauma' are transmitted to offspring, therefore having transgenerational impact.

I am developing a major international and multi-disciplinary research program to study refugee populations. Refugees are severely stress exposed over a significant period of time, and are at significantly increased risk for developing mental illness. The knowledge gained from studying refugees is also relevant in the context of other traumatised populations.