ECNP Podcast 3 — more information

Interviewed: Catherine Harmer, United Kingdom
Catherine Harmer is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University Department of Psychiatry in Oxford. She directs a multidisciplinary team of researchers in the Psychopharmacology and Emotion Research Lab (PERL) using a variety of techniques such as fMRI, MEG, TMS, psychopharmacological challenge techniques and neuropsychological assessments. Her work has led to the novel idea that antidepressants may work by rapidly resolving negative affective bias in depression which leads to gradual improvements in mood, social dysfunction and other key symptoms of depression over time. This concept has stimulated new research approaches for the treatment of depression with implications for stratification of treatment, early prediction of therapeutic response and identification of novel therapeutic targets. Catherine Harmer has been awarded prizes from the British Association for Psychopharmacology and the Royal College of Psychiatrists for this research and is the 2013 recipient of the AE Bennett award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Interviewer: Aiste Lengvenyte, Lithuania
Aiste Lengvenyte is a psychiatrist working as Chef de Clinique et Assistant des Hopitaux in Montpellier, France. She studied medicine in Lithuanian University of Health Sciencies, Lithuania, and later completed her training in psychiatry in Vilnius University, Lithuania. During her studies, she has spent time in Cagliari, Italy, Montpellier, France, and London, United Kingdom. Concurrently with her clinical work, she is undertaking a PhD project on suicidal behaviours. She is interested in biological bases of suicidal behaviours and mood disorders, as well as the best ways to address these issues. Since 2019 she is a member of ECNP’s Early Career Advisory Panel (ECAP).