Gemma Modinos - Biography#
Prof. Modinos is Professor of Neuroscience & Mental Health in the Department of Psychological Medicine of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), and Group Leader at the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London. She completed a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Applied Neurosciences in Barcelona (Spain), followed by a PhD in Neuroscience (Cum Laude, awarded <5%) at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). She then joined the IoPPN as a post-doc, where she received a NARSAD Young Investigator Award to examine the relationship between functional MRI activation during emotional processing and glutamate levels in healthy people with high schizotypy. In 2016, she was awarded a King’s Prize Fellowship to facilitate her transition to an independent research career, and shortly after received a Wellcome Trust & The Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, allowing her to start her own lab at the IoPPN.
Modinos Lab combines multi-scale approaches to investigate brain mechanisms of psychosis vulnerability, with a focus on GABA and glutamate neurotransmission, and whether targeting these mechanisms may unlock the identification of new therapeutic strategies. She pioneered research bridging preclinical and clinical science in early psychosis. As PI, she has led multimodal neuroimaging research examining brain vulnerability for psychosis, and developed innovative approaches to (1) link these neuroimaging markers to underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, and (2) probe these mechanisms with new pharmacological strategies. She has built collaborative infrastructure to scale this research as PI. For example, she single-handedly created and currently chairs the largest global consortium for neuroimaging research in schizotypy - ENIGMA Schizotypy.
She is recognised internationally for her translational work in psychosis, including her discoveries that the neurochemical systems GABA and glutamate are involved in key MRI markers across a continuum of risk for psychosis. Her career has been characterized by multiple international awards/distinctions, extensive high-quality research outputs, and competitive grants as PI. In the last 3 years, she has given 4 keynote presentations, 14 invited talks, and 15 symposia or oral presentations. She has been Meta-Panel expert evaluator for the Slovak Academy of Sciences research institutes (2016/21 period). She is Deputy Editor for Schizophrenia Research and Editorial Board Member for Neuropsychopharmacology. She has provided expert consultancy for the pharmaceutical industry.
Gemma is heavily involved in European science advice and policy, having served as 2020/2 Chair of the Young Academy of Europe. She was in the founding group for the Young Academies for Science Advice Structure (YASAS) for SAPEA+, and the European Commission's Core Group on reforming research assessment. Since 2022 she is member of the Academia Europaea’s Higher Education, Research and Culture in European Societies (HERCulES) expert group, and since 2023 she is Scientific Advisory Board Member of the EU-funded project SECURE (Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment). She also regularly works alongside patient groups in her research (e.g., SLaM Young Person’s Mental Health Advisory Group). She is currently Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead in the Steering Committee of the Psychosis and Mood Disorders Theme, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King’s College London. She delivered a King’s Artists Award (£5,000) running several public engagement workshops throughout 2020/2 in collaboration with an artist-in-residence in her lab, leading to a public exhibition on World Mental Health Day 2021.
