Familial High Risk Studies – Why Are They Still Relevant? The Danish High Risk and Resilience Study – Status, Results and Perspectives

Friday, October 21, 8:30 – 9:15 a.m., Washington

Assistant professor, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen

Anne Thorup is a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Copenhagen, Research Units at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center and Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark.

She defended her PhD thesis in 2005 from the OPUS project called ‘Gender differences, negative symptoms and social network in patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders randomized to standard treatment or integrated treatment in the OPUS trial’ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Since 2012, she has been a member of the PI group behind and the daily head of ‘The Danish High Risk and Resilience Study- VIA 7’ – a cohort study of 520 7-year old children born to parents diagnosed with either schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or neither of these two mental disorders . The Via 7 cohort is planned to be followed up over time, first time at age 11. Further, an intervention study, Via Family, for children and parents in high risk families are being planned.

Her special areas of interests are developmental psychopathology and early environmental risk factors like attachment, childhood trauma, family environment, social relations and social cognition, and early intervention and prevention.