Using innovative methods, our research division investigates the biological consequences of chronic and traumatic stress, its effects on health as well as its etiological role in the development of depression. We investigate processes such as alterations in the immune system, the endocrine system, molecular cell processes and mitochondrial bioenergetics resulting from stress and trauma. Furthermore, we investigate whether these processes normalize after psychotherapy. A major area of our research focuses on premature aging processes caused by traumatic stress and the possible reversibility of these degeneration processes. Another important research field of our group are risk and resilience factors in the transgenerational transmission of childhood maltreatment.