Pioneering pathways in psychiatry: the intersection between immunology and psychiatry

Marion Leboyer, MD, PhD, is professor of psychiatry at the University of Paris Est Créteil (UPEC) in France. She is head of the university-affiliated department of psychiatry and addiction (Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Assistance-Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris) and she also runs the translational neuropsychiatry laboratory, which is part of the Mondor Institute (Inserm U955). Since 2007, she has been the executive director of Fondation Fondamental. Professor Leboyer’s research efforts have contributed to better identification of genetic and environmental risk factors associated with major psychiatric disorders, facilitating better understanding of causal mechanisms. In particular, she has contributed to identifying associations between genetic vulnerability factors, immune dysfunctions, environmental risk factors and brain imaging abnormalities in bipolar disorders, psychotic disorders and autism. Professor Leboyer is the principal investigator of several international and national research projects, funded by the National Research Agency and the French Ministry of Health, including immune signatures (using biomarkers, immunogenetic and brain imaging data) and clinical trials of immunomodulatory treatment. Since 2022, she is the scientific director of the rogram project in Precision Psychiatry (PEPR ProPSY), which received a funding of EUR 80 million for 5 years (France 2030).

Dr. Aiste Lengvenyte is a psychiatrist and researcher at the CHU Montpellier in Montpellier, France. She is currently a member of the ECNP Early Career Academy Board and is also a member of the ECNP Depression Meta Network. Her primary interests are the relationship between inflammation and suicidal behaviours, mood disorders, and stress pathology in general.