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
- Jung, B, Schmitt, JE, Seidlitz, J, Schabdach, J, Karandikar, S, Crowley, TB et al.. Leveraging Clinical Neuroimaging to Chart Brain Structure in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. medRxiv. 2025; :. doi: 10.1101/2025.11.25.25339898. PubMed PMID:41358290 PubMed Central PMC12676546.
- Villalón-Reina, JE, Zhu, AH, Benavidez, S, Moreau, CA, Feng, Y, Chattopadhyay, T et al.. Lifespan Normative Modeling of Brain Microstructure. bioRxiv. 2025; :. doi: 10.1101/2024.12.15.628527. PubMed PMID:41256711 PubMed Central PMC12621655.
- Yuan, QE, Feurer, C, Zhou, QD, Carrion, R, Addington, J, Bearden, CE et al.. Neighborhood Characteristics and Social Functioning: Exploring Shared and Distinct Psychosocial Pathways Among Individuals at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 2025; :. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbaf192. PubMed PMID:41212179 .
- Wang, HR, Liu, ZQ, Nomi, JS, Schleifer, CH, Bearden, CE, Misic, B et al.. Multivariate Resting-State Functional Connectivity Features Linked to Transdiagnostic Psychopathology in Early Psychosis. Biol Psychiatry. 2025; :. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.10.024. PubMed PMID:41173200 .
- Bilgrami, ZR, Castro, E, Agurto, C, Liebenthal, E, Ennis, M, Baker, JT et al.. Collecting language, speech acoustics, and facial expression to predict psychosis and other clinical outcomes: strategies from the AMP® SCZ initiative. Schizophrenia (Heidelb). 2025;11 (1):125. doi: 10.1038/s41537-025-00669-z. PubMed PMID:41093845 PubMed Central PMC12528486.