Her multidisciplinary programme of research focuses on the role of social, psychological, biological, and wider environmental factors in the development, course, and prevention of mental health problems in children, adolescents, and young adults.

Prof Fisher’s initial research involved evaluating Early Intervention Services for young people with psychosis and then focused on the interplay between childhood maltreatment and genes in the development and course of psychosis. She is currently extending this work to explore the social, psychological, and epigenetic factors that increase and decrease the risk of psychotic experiences persisting during adolescence among children exposed to various forms of adversity using longitudinal cohorts. She is also jointly leading projects exploring epigenetic signatures of exposure to psychosocial stressors in adolescence; biopsychosocial markers of resilience following exposure to childhood maltreatment; the role of air pollution in the development of adolescent mental health problems; and improving detection of adolescents at high risk for depression across four continents.