Neurobiological and psychological underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders. Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense

The research group "Neurobiological and psychological underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders", led by Prof. Celso Arango (h-index: 70) has become an international leader in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, including early-onset psychosis and autism, in the past 15 years. The group is comprised of a multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists and psychologists, and experts in neurocognition, neuroimaging, and genetics, with extensive expertise in translational neuroscience and a specific focus on the study of the neurobiological underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders. The group coordinates an early-onset psychosis cohort, which is unique worldwide, that is now reaching its 15-year follow-up.

The extensive scientific activity of the group is reflected by the more than 500 publications and 80 related projects funded in competitive national and international calls, and the continued funding for pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and senior researchers obtained from public and private institutions in competitive calls. Many of the results of the research activity of the group have been translated into clinical guideline development and therapeutic innovation. The group has extensive experience in large-scale international translational consortia on neurodevelopmental disorders and has participated in 10 projects funded under the EU Seventh Framework Program, 3 projects funded under the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Program, and one project funded by the NIMH.

The MSCA fellow will join one of the main research lines of the group: "Neurobiological and psychological underpinnings of early-onset psychosis" and "Neurobiological and psychological underpinnings of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders" and will help to further develop and establish independent projects in one or several of the following research lines:

- Developmental trajectories of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)
- Genetic underpinnings of NDDs
- Molecular biology of NDDs
- Neuroimaging of NDDs
- Neurocognition of NDDs
- Biomarker discovery and validation for NDDs
- Therapeutic innovation for NDDs

Based on his/her areas of scientific expertise, the MSCA fellow will support some of these lines by establishing new translational projects aimed at i) deepening knowledge of the role of genetic and environmental variation and their interaction in risk for psychosis and other NDDs, ii) optimising genetic diagnostic algorithms for NDDs in clinical practice (e.g. assessment of accuracy of different genetic diagnostic methods and cost-effectiveness analysis of different diagnostic algorithms in autism clinical samples), iii) establishing and validating a replicable set of biomarkers for NDDs with potential applicability for patient stratification and clinical trial development (including structural and functional neuroimaging, electroencephalography, and analysis of central and peripheral oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers, among others), iv) characterising differing developmental trajectories in the early phases of NDDs (by combining developmental, clinical, cognitive and biological variables) as phenotypes of interest for guiding preventive and therapeutic interventions, or v) developing novel psychosocial and pharmacological interventions.

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