Cristiana Cruceanu

Cristiana Cruceanu is an Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where she leads the Developmental and Translational Neurobiology research group. She has made important contributions to understanding how prenatal environmental exposures influence human brain development and long-term mental health outcomes. Her research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which stress-related factors shape neurodevelopmental trajectories. Using integrative approaches that combine human iPSC- derived cellular models, population-based cohorts, and multi-omics technologies, her work provides insight into pathways underlying vulnerability and resilience to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Cristiana received her PhD from McGill University in Montreal, with research focused on genetic, transcriptional, and epigenetic mechanisms in mood disorders, including bipolar disorder and major depression. During her postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich, she expanded her work to investigate how stress biology influences early brain development using human-relevant models. She has been recognized for her contributions to neuroscience with prestigious awards, including funding from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Brain Foundation, and the Swedish Society for Medical Research, supporting her work on the placenta brain axis and the role of the placenta as a mediator of prenatal stress effects. In 2024, she received the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Rising Star Award for her promising research in applied and translational neuroscience with the potential to advance the science, treatment, and prevention of brain disorders. Cristiana’s publication record spans high-impact journals in neuroscience and molecular psychiatry, including Science Advances, Molecular Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, Nature, Science, and Translational Psychiatry, reflecting her contribution to research on both pathology and the developmental origins of neuropsychiatric conditions.