Learning from and treating patients with advanced psychiatric diseases

Speaker: Christoph Kraus

Host: Ronja Brinkmann

Dr. Christoph Kraus focuses on improving outcomes in severe psychiatric disorders, with a particular emphasis on mood disorders and obsessive–compulsive disorder. At the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical University of Vienna, he and his team employ advanced treatment approaches, including invasive neuromodulation and innovative pharmacological strategies. These include techniques such as deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation, alongside efforts to advance biological markers for diagnosis and disease staging. Using a translational, multimodal, and neuroscience-based approach, Dr. Kraus’s research aims to link clinical features and therapeutic responses with the restoration of brain circuits. His work integrates methodologies from neuroimaging, biochemistry, genetics, and clinical phenotyping.
The overarching goal of his research is to improve prognosis, treatment outcomes, and quality of life for patients with severe psychiatric conditions. Dr. Kraus is an extraordinary professor at the Medical University of Vienna. He holds a PhD in Clinical Neuroscience and completed postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA.