- Position : Associate Professor
- Institution : Emory University School of Medicine
- Department : Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
- Location : Atlanta, GA, USA
- Website : http://www.med.emory.edu/faculty/profile_bio.cfm?id=2618
Dr. Christine Marcelle Heim PhD
Main Research Focus
Intersecting clinical and developmental psychobiology, Dr. Heim studies longterm consequences of childhood trauma in humans. She uses a multidisciplinary approach combining psychological, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging, and genetic methods to (a) identify mechanisms of vulnerability vs. resilience to the effects of childhood trauma and (b) identify new ways for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of adverse outcomes.
Career
Awards
1993-1996 Governmental stipend for graduate studies (Landesgraduiertenförderungs-Gesetz Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)
1995 Travel Award, German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Miami, FL, USA
1996 “Summa cum laude” highest honors for the dissertation and defense of theses, Department of Clinical and Physiological Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
1997 Annual Award for Distinguished Dissertations, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
1997-1998 Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) to obtain training in the USA
1998 Young Investigator Award of the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology (ISPNE), 24th ISPNE Congress, Trier, Germany
2002 Young Investigator Award of the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)
2002 Travel Award of the Endocrine Society, 4th World Congress on Stress, Edinburgh, UK
2003 Elected Scholar of the Society for Biological Psychiatry
2004 Chaim Danieli Young Professional Award, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)
2005 Young Investigator Award of the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)
2006 Junior Faculty Research Grant Award of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)
2006 Research Scientist Career Development Award, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
2007 Curt P. Richter Award, International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology
2008 Elected Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Publication Highlights
Heim, C., Newport, D. J., Heit, S., Graham, Y. P., Wilcox, M., Bonsall, R., Miller, A. H. & Nemeroff, C. B. (2000). Pituitary-adrenal and autonomic responses to stress in adult women with sexual and physical abuse in childhood. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 284, 592-597.
Heim, C., Ehlert, U. & Hellhammer, D. H. (2000). The potential role of hypocortisolism in the pathophysiology of stress-related bodily disorders. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 25, 1-35.
Heim, C., Plotsky, P. M. & Nemeroff, C. B. (2004). The importance of studying the contributions of early adverse experience to the neurobiology of depression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, 641–648.
Heim, C., Young, L. J., Newport, D. J., Mletzko, T. C., Miller, A. H., Nemeroff, C. B. Persistent CSF oxytocin deficiency after childhood abuse. Molecular Psychiatry [Epub ahead of print Oct 28, 2008].
Heim, C., Nater, U.M., Maloney, E. B., Boneva, R., Jones, J. F., & Reeves, W. C. (2009). Childhood risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome: Association with neuroendocrine dysfunction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 72-80.
