Research
Neurogenetic disorders; neurobehavioral biomarkers of serious mental illness
Appointments
- Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Brain Research Institute
- Integrative Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics
- Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART)
- Director, Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS)
Biography
Her research aims to understand genetic and neurobiological risk factors for the development of early-onset neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Bearden’s work examines these questions through two complementary lines of research:
1) The investigation of early biomarkers that predict disease risk and trajectory in at-risk populations; and
2) Translational approaches to understanding disrupted brain circuitry in highly penetrant genetic subtypes (e.g, 22q11.2 microdeletions)
Publications
- Boen, R, O'Hora, KP, Fung, H, Kushan, L, Schleifer, CH, Dietterich, TE et al.. The Hidden Architecture of Brain Structural Variability in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: A Multi-site Study. medRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.05.18.26353539. PubMed PMID:42238402 PubMed Central PMC13228650.
- Amir, CM, Walsh, C, Wang, HR, Ghahremani, DG, Chang, SE, Ho, TC et al.. Predicting Substance Use and Psychotic-Like Experiences in Adolescents. medRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.05.20.26353709. PubMed PMID:42238395 PubMed Central PMC13228774.
- Liebrand, M, Hamilton, HK, Roach, BJ, Nicholas, S, Bachman, PM, Belger, A et al.. Electroencephalography Microstate Instability and Clinical Outcomes in Individuals at Clinical High Risk of Psychosis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2026; :. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.1084. PubMed PMID:42234419 .
- Villalón-Reina, JE, Zhu, AH, Nabulsi, L, Thomopoulos, SI, Moreau, CA, Feng, Y et al.. Lifespan normative modeling of brain microstructure. Nat Commun. 2026;17 (1):. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-72875-x. PubMed PMID:42204143 PubMed Central PMC13216618.
- Nerland, S, Barth, C, Jørgensen, KN, Wortinger, LA, Castro-Fornieles, J, Díaz-Caneja, CM et al.. Cerebral cortical alterations in adolescent early-onset psychosis: a surface-based morphometry mega-analysis. Mol Psychiatry. 2026; :. doi: 10.1038/s41380-026-03641-0. PubMed PMID:42156536 .