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
- Cowan, HR, Pratt, D, Shah, JL, Woods, SW, Alameda, L, Lepage, M et al.. Premorbid adjustment problems, negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment in a large international sample at clinical high risk for psychosis: Findings from the Accelerating Medicines Partnership-Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2025; :. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbaf197. PubMed PMID:42113003 .
- Diaz-Zuluaga, AM, Anderberg, JL, Ramirez-Diaz, AM, Marques, AH, Rast, CE, Bustamante, D et al.. A Global Prospective Harmonization Framework for Suicidality, Anhedonia, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Psychiatric Genetic Studies: A Cross-Continental Study Within the Ancestral Population Network. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2026; :. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.70019. PubMed PMID:42109083 .
- Sacks, MF, Klein, M, Bigdeli, TB, Kals, M, Oetjens, MT, Bénitière, F et al.. Combinatorial effects of gene dosage, polygenic background and environment on complex traits. medRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.04.30.26352063. PubMed PMID:42094142 PubMed Central PMC13142611.
- Zhu, J, Boltz, TA, Nuechterlein, KH, Asarnow, RF, Green, MF, Karlsgodt, KH et al.. Investigating Pathway-Partitioned Polygenic Risk Scores for Schizophrenia: Insights into Clinical Variability in Two Patient Cohorts. medRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.04.11.26349671. PubMed PMID:42064921 PubMed Central PMC13127511.
- Fung, H, O'Hora, KP, Boen, R, Wang, HR, Amir, CM, Schleifer, CH et al.. Convergent and Divergent Cerebellar Alterations in 22q11.2 Copy Number Variants. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2026;6 (4):100718. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2026.100718. PubMed PMID:42058778 PubMed Central PMC13122804.