Research and qualification programme
IRTG 2773 "Risks and Pathomechanisms of Affective Disorders" is an established interdisciplinary collaboration that offers a structured international graduate program for a new generation of talented young scientists. The multi-level/multi-method research approach and its implementation in the IRTG qualification program are described below.
The overarching goal of the IRTG qualification program is to train a new generation of medical and clinician scientists who are able to conduct translational research that combines findings from neuroscience and psychiatry with clinical practice and ultimately leads to a significant improvement in treatment outcomes for patients. The program focused on research into psychiatric disorders and promoting the translation of experimental findings into clinical applications by integrating experimental findings with innovative therapeutic approaches.
While progress has been made in understanding brain maturation and the role of genetic and environmental factors in the development of affective disorders, fundamental questions remain unanswered: Which constellation of risk factors leads to the development of prodromal or manifest symptoms and comorbid disorders in which individual and at what point in time? And which constellation of protective factors is able to halt the course of the disease at which turning points? Which pathomechanism is decisive at which stage of the disease's development? Only by answering these questions will a stratified medicine be possible that implements advances in basic research by tackling the etiological mechanisms underlying mental disorders in a targeted manner. The resulting advances in diagnostic precision and in targeted manner interventions could provide a way to address the enormous public health burden and individual suffering associated with affective disorders. This is the goal of the IRTG research program.