Mental illness was once believed to be caused by the moon, an act of God or a punishment for some terrible deed. Today we know that the causes are not quite so spectacular or sinister.
Winthrop Professor of Psychiatry and current director of the Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry (CCRN), Assen Jablensky has spent much of his career looking into exactly how mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, develop and why they affect only certain people.
Some of his more recent research has looked specifically at mental illness and pregnancy, and whether having complications in pregnancy could impact the mental health of the infant.
Perhaps the most interesting part of his current findings (the project is ongoing) was the idea that mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, could be related to physical abnormalities in the genes or even a viral infection during pregnancy and therefore have a clear biological basis.
The on-going research of Winthrop Professor Jablensky is extremely useful in better understanding mental illness and also tailoring treatments for its sufferers.
