Beata Godlewska

My research has a few main points of focus: the psychopharmacology of mood disorders - depression and bipolar disorder - and psychological mechanisms of antidepressant drug action; development of MRI tools (in particular functional MRS) in the service of diagnostic markers and drug development; and understanding the biological mechanisms of ME/CFS with the view of future treatment development.

Mood disorders are an important public health problem, which biology is not fully understood and treatments not always effective. Clarifying their neurobiology is an important step towards understanding predisposition and improving available treatments. Increasing an understanding of how antidepressants act on the brain in the psychological contexts opens a new range of possibilities for increasing treatment options and prediction of response. Apart from experimental medicine studies, I participate in running clinical trials, with the aim of developing new treatments.

ME/CFS is a poorly understood and highly debilitating condition affecting around 1% of the population. Understanding of its biological mechanisms is a huge need as currently there are no diagnostic markers and treatments.

In my research I use a range of methodologies: neuropsychological testing, fMRI, MRS, MEG in various populations: currently unwell people, people at risk of depression because of the previous history of this disorder and healthy volunteers.