Dr. rer. nat. Susanne Meinert, M.Sc.
Postdoc
s.meinert@uni-muenster.de
Tel.: +49 (0)251 83-56687
Projects:
FED:UP, SFB/TRR393:A04, ONSET:Parents, ONSET:Education, FOR2107, MACS, MACS-Angststörungen, MACS-Psychosespektrum, MACS-5-Jahres-Follow-up, Feed:Back
CV
Research Profiles
Bluesky web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/smeinert.bsky.social Open Science Framework osf.io/3ux8t/ ORCiD orcid.org/0000-0003-2177-7161 Google scholar scholar.google.de/citations Academic Career
01/2024 present Junior research group leader of the group Transition Research in Affective Disorders (TRIAD), Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany • Expertise: Investigation of neurobiological trajectories during critical transitional periods (e.g. adolescence) • Projects: IMF ONSET: Education (PI), EKFS ONSET: Parents (PI), DFG CRC/TRR393: A04 Intense Sampling (PI), IMF FED:UP (PI) • Planned academic degree: Habilitation 11/2020 present Research associate at the Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Germany, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dr. Robert Nitsch • Expertise: Translational (mouse to human, basic to clinical) experimental studies focusing on the modulation of cortical excitability through synaptic lipid signaling • Projects: DFG CRC/SFB1451: project A07 in the first and C08 in the second funding period (PhD) • Planned academic degree: second PhD in medical science 12/2015 12/2023 Research associate at the Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dr. Udo Dannlowski • Expertise: Management of large longitudinal cohort studies with multimodal (neuroimaging, biomaterial, phenotyping) data assessments of affective and psychotic disorders • Projects: DFG FOR2107 work package 1, and additional extensions DFG FOR2107: Anxiety, DFG FOR2107: Psychoses, DFG FOR2107: 5 year (PhD, postdoc, local coordinator) • Academic degree: first PhD in psychology finished in 05/2022 Training and Qualifications
10/2022 present Additional qualification in child and adolescent psychotherapy (CBT) at the German Society for Behavior Therapy (DGVT), Münster, Germany; completion of the theory seminars (200 TU) in November 2024 04/2022 present PhD-student in medical science ; dissertation’s working title: „Food intake, elevated excitation, and diet: Biological action on the cortical synapse“ supervised by Prof. Dr. Dr. Robert Nitsch / Prof. Dr. Dr. Udo Dannlowski at the University of Münster, Germany 04/2016 04/2021 Approbation as psychotherapist , specialty cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) at the Institute for Psychological Psychotherapy Training (IPP), University of Münster, Germany 04/2016 05/2022 PhD-student in psychology (summa cum laude); dissertation: „The Neural Correlates of the Development, Progression, and Outcome of Major Depressive Disorder - Insights from Diffusion Tensor Imaging“ supervised by Prof. Dr. Ricarda Schubotz / Prof. Dr. Dr. Udo Dannlowski at the University of Münster, Germany 10/2014 03/2016 Master of science psychologyat the University of Münster, Germany 10/2011 09/2014 Bachelor of science psychology at the University of Münster, Germany 07/2011 A-levels at the “Städtisches Stiftsgymnasium Xanten”, Germany Clinical work experience
09/2024 present Out-patient psychotherapy at the Center for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Münster (DGVT) 05/2021 12/2023 Out-patient psychotherapy in the Institute Outpatient Clinic of the University Hospital Münster, Germany, special unit Transition Psychiatry (young adults, postpartum depression, mother-infant-consultations) 02/2017 01/2018 In-patient psychotherapy (PT1) at the University Hospital Münster, Germany, special unit „patients with experiences of psychosis”. 06/2016 10/2022 Out-patient psychotherapy at the „Psychotherapie-Ambulanz (PTA)“, University of Münster, psychotherapy in training Awards, scholarships, and competitive funds
2025 IMF poster prize for the best presentation for the interim report at the IMF Symposium 2025 2024 Oral presentation abstract price (500 €) of the DGPPN congress 2024 2024 Invited speaker at the “ECNP’s Got Talent” Session at the ECNP congress 2024; 1st place in the competition 2024 Congress travel scholarship, ECNP Workshop for Early Career Scientists in Europe, 2024, Nice, France 2023 DGPPN-dissertation price – Hans-Heimann-Preis 2023 for the best dissertations in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy (6.000 €) 2023 ECNP Excellence Award for the best poster abstract presented by an Early Career Scientist at the ECNP 2023 and travel reimbursement (630 €) 2023 Young Mentor Award of the German Society for Psychology to honor good PhD-supervision (interview) 2023 Society of Biological Psychiatry Travel Fellowship Award for the 2023 annual meeting financing of congress participation of the SOBP 2023, San Diego, California, USA (1.726 €) 2019 Invited speaker at the „New findings“ symposium at the ECNP congress 2020 2019 Congress travel scholarship, ECNP Workshop for Early Career Scientists in Europe, 2020 2018 Congress travel scholarship, DGBP financing the congress participation of the DGBP 2018, Heidelberg, Germany Research
Research Interests
I have long been fascinated by research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology that attempts to connect our inner experience to a biological substrate. I am particularly taken with the network perspective of the brain, where the brain is understood as more than the sum of its parts. Rather, it is the complex interplay through reciprocal anatomical connections that enables the integration of information from specialized regions and thus influences how we perceive the world.
I acquired extensive knowledge in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) through stays abroad and methods workshops. I also had the opportunity to collaborate in projects using various multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods. The long-lasting expertise in all state-of-the-art morphological techniques (incl. TBSS, Connectomics, Fressurfer, CAT12, SPM12) is well documented by previous publications. I am currently expanding my neurobiological expertise with a second PhD in medical sciences under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. Robert Nitsch.
Adjacent to my research activities, I obtained my license as a psychotherapist. In addition, I am currently deepening my clinical knowledge through an additional qualification in child and adolescent psychotherapy. I firmly believe in the idea of the “clinician scientist”, where clinical work guides scientific inquiry in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
By leveraging the impact of transitional periods, my long-term research goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the neurodevelopmental trajectories of depression. I believe this will deepen our understanding of mental illness and may inform prevention and treatment interventions in the future.
Membership
- German Society for Psychology (dt. “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie”, DGPS), interest group “Clinical Biopsychology“ & interest group „Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy“
- European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)
International research stays
2017 Prof. Dr. Martijn van den Heuvel, UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands, lab-sharing, teaching of graph-theoretical connectome analyses, start of a cooperation (PMID: 31384023, 31758093) 2017 Prof. Dr. Francesco Benedetti, OSR Milan, Italy, lab sharing, teaching of diffusion tensor imaging preprocessing and tract based spatial statistics; cooperation on a manuscript about the effects of electroconvulsive therapy on white matter microstructure (PMID: 31010441) Grants and Projects
- “Maternal risk in the development of postpartum depression: A longitudinal neurobiological study from pregnancy to delayed postpartum” – German Research Foundation (DFG) together with Prof. Dr. Natalia Chechko (591.500 €; own share: 295.750 €)
- “The role of synaptic of synaptic lipid modulated cortical excitability for metabolic symptoms in major depressive disorders: A clinical translation study” – “Innovative Medizinische Forschung” (IMF) of the University of Münster (209.916 €)
- "A04: Brain network characterization of symptom changes using intense sampling“, CRC/TRR 393: „Trajectories of Affective Disorders: Cognitive-Emotional Mechanisms of Symptom Change“ – German Research Foundation (DFG) together with Prof. Dr. Markus Junghöfer and Prof. Dr. Igor Nenadic (545 000 €; own share: 126.175 €)
- “Effects of parental depression on offspring’s mental health: Insights from transgenerational neuroimaging” (ONSET: Parents) – “Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung” (EKFS) (250 527 €)
- “Brain structural development of adolescent depression: a 2-year longitudinal study” (ONSET: Education) – “Innovative Medizinische Forschung” (IMF) of the University of Münster, together with Dr. Linda M. Bonnekoh (194 360 €; own share: 97.180 €)
Publications
Notable publications
- Kraus, A., Dohm, K., Borgers, T., Goltermann, J., Grotegerd, D., Winter, A., (…), Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution) & Dannlowski, U.* (2025) Brain Structural Correlates of an Impending Initial Major Depressive Episode. Neuropsychopharmacology. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02075-6 ;
◦ preregistration, data and scripts - Flinkenflügel, K.*, Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution), Hirtsiefer, C., Grotegerd, D., Thiel, K., et al. (2024). Associations between white matter microstructure and cognitive decline in major depressive disorder versus controls in Germany: a prospective case-control cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry, 11(11), 899-909. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00291-8
◦ includes a replication by using out-of-site cross-validation; preregistration, data and scripts
◦ honored with the DGPPN Abstract Award and the EKFS - Paper of the month - Thiel, K.*, Lemke, H.*, Winter, A., Flinkenflügel, K., Waltemate, L., Bonnekoh, L., (…) Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution) & Dannlowski, U*. (2024). White and gray matter alterations in bipolar I and bipolar II disorder subtypes compared with healthy controls – associations with disease course and polygenic risk. Neuropsychopharmacology, 49, 814-823. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01812-7
- Goltermann, J.*, Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution), Hülsmann, C., Dohm, K., Grotegerd, D., Redlich, R., Waltemate, L., Lemke, H., et al. (2023). Temporal stability and state-dependence of retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment in major depression: a two-year longitudinal analysis of the childhood trauma questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 35(1), 12-22. DOI: doi.org/10.1037/pas0001175 ;
◦ includes a close replication; preregistration / data / scripts - Meinert S., Nowack N., Grotegerd D., Repple J., Winter N.R., Abheiden I., et al. (2022). Association of brain white matter microstructure with cognitive performance in major depressive disorder and healthy controls: a diffusion-tensor imaging study. Molecular Psychiatry, 27, 1103-1110, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01330-8
- Meinert, S., Leehr, E.J., Grotegerd, D., Repple, J., Förster, K., Winter, N.R., et al. (2022). White matter fiber microstructure is associated with prior hospitalizations rather than acute symptomatology in major depressive disorder. Psychological Medicine, 52(6), 1166-1174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720002950
- Repple, J*., Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution), Bollettini, I., Grotegerd, D., Redlich, R., Zaremba, D., et al. (2020). Influence of electroconvulsive therapy on white matter structure in a diffusion tensor imaging study. Psychological Medicine, 50(5), 849-856. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719000758
- Meinert, S., Repple, J., Nenadic, I., Krug, A., Jansen, A., Grotegerd, D., et al. (2019). Reduced fractional anisotropy in depressed patients due to childhood maltreatment rather than diagnosis. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(12), 2065-2072. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0472-y
◦ includes a close replication
Entire bibliographie: https://scholar.google.de/citations?user=rnetiToAAAAJ&hl=de
- Kraus, A., Dohm, K., Borgers, T., Goltermann, J., Grotegerd, D., Winter, A., (…), Meinert, S.* (*equal contribution) & Dannlowski, U.* (2025) Brain Structural Correlates of an Impending Initial Major Depressive Episode. Neuropsychopharmacology. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02075-6 ;