Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dipl.-Psych. Christine Marcelle Heim
Institutsdirektorin

Institut für Medizinische Psychologie
Luisenstraße 57
10117 Berlin

Tel: (030) 450 529 222
Fax: (030) 450 529 990
Email: christine.heim@charite.de

Positions:
2011- Professor and Head of Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité Center for Health and Human Sciences, Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

2011- Member, Excellence Cluster Neurocure, Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

2011- Adjunct Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

2008-2011 Associate Professor (with tenure), Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

2006-2011 Adjunct Faculty, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

2001-2007 Assistant Professor (tenure track), Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

1999-2001 C1 Scientific Associate, Dept. of Clinical & Physiological Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

Education and Training:
1996-1999 Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical Psychobiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

1996 Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.), Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany (Honors: Summa cum laude)

1993 M.S. (Diploma), Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

Prof. Heim was trained at the University of Trier, Germany, and at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA. At Emory, she was appointed an Assistant Professor in 2001 and Associate Professor (with tenure) in 2008. In 2011, Prof. Heim accepted an appointment call to return to Germany and now is Professor and Chair of the Institute of Medical Psychology at Charité University Medicine in Berlin. Prof. Heim’s research is focused on studying the neurobiological consequences of childhood trauma and their relationship to depression, anxiety disorders, and functional somatic syndromes using an interdisciplinary psychobiological approach. She has authored more than 100 articles, letters, and chapters. Her articles are published in prestigious scientific journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of General Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Psychiatry, and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Her work is acknowledged in more than 7000 citations. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Society for Biological Psychiatry, and International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology among others. She is the recipient of more than 10 honors and awards, including the 2004 Chaim Danieli Young Professional Award for outstanding contributions to traumatic stress research and the highly prestigious Curt P. Richter Award for outstanding contributions to psychoneuroendocrinology. She also is the recipient of a National Institutes of Mental Health Career Development Award. In 2008, Prof. Heim was elected a regular member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. She serves on multiple international scientific and editorial review committees.

Selected publications

1. Bradley B, Westen D, Jovanovic T, Binder EB, Crain D, Wingo A, Heim C. Association between childhood maltreatment and adult emotional dysregulation in a low income, urban, African American sample: Moderation by oxytocin receptor gene. Dev Psychopathology: in press.

2. Lupien SJ, McEwen BS, Gunnar MR, Heim C. Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci 2009;10, 434-445.

3. Heim C, Young LJ, Newport DJ, Mletzko T, Miller AH, Nemeroff CB. Persistent CSF oxytocin deficiency after childhood abuse. Mol Psychiatry 2009;14, 954-958.

4. Heim C, Mletzko T, Purselle D, Musselman DL, Nemeroff CB. The combined dexamethasone/CRF test in men with major depression: Role of childhood trauma. Biol Psychiatry 2008;63, 398-405.

5. Heim C, Nater UM, Maloney EB, Boneva R, Jones JF, Reeves WC. Childhood risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome: Association with neuroendocrine dysfunction. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009; 66, 72-80.

6. Heim C, Wagner D, Maloney E, Papanicolaou DA, Solomon L, Jones JF, Unger ER, Reeves WC. Early adverse experience and risk for chronic fatigue syndrome: a population based study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006;63, 1258-1266.

7. Heim C, Plotsky PM, Nemeroff CB. The importance of studying the contributions of early adverse experience to the neurobiology of depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 2004; 29, 641–648.

8. Nemeroff CB, Heim C, Thase ME, Rush AJ, Schatzberg AF, Ninan P, Klein DN, McCullough JP, Weiss P, Dunner DL, Rothbaum BO, Kornstein S, Keitner G, Keller MB. Differential responses to psychotherapy versus pharmacotherapy in the treatment of patients with chronic forms of major depression and childhood trauma. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 2003; 100, 14293-14296.

9. Heim C, Newport DJ, Bonsall R, Miller AH, Nemeroff CB. Altered pituitary-adrenal axis responses to provocative challenge tests in adult survivors of childhood abuse. Am J Psychiatry 2001;158, 575-581.

10. Heim C, Newport DJ, Heit S, Graham YP, Wilcox M, Bonsall R, Miller AH, Nemeroff CB. Pituitary-adrenal and autonomic responses to stress in adult women with sexual and physical abuse in childhood. JAMA 2000;284, 592-597.