About this episode

In this episode, Iris Hamers discusses her research on sex differences in mental health disorders and the importance of supportive research communities in women's mental health.

Let’s Talk WITH Young Researchers: Welcome to our podcast sideline, in which we give the word to young researchers in the field of women’s mental health! In this episode, meet  Iris Hamers , PhD researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen. In her PhD, Iris investigates sex differences in mental health disorders and treatment, with a particular focus on schizophrenia and psychosis, and an expanding interest to other mental health disorders. Her work sits at the intersection of gonadal hormones, pharmacokinetics, and clinical neuroscience, aiming to better understand how biological sex influences symptom prevalence and treatment response. Iris’ PhD combines research within a randomized controlled trial on early discontinuation of antipsychotics and large-scale population research on women’s mental health across the lifespan, using nationwide registry data from the Netherlands. In this episode, we discuss key lifespan patterns in mental healthcare, sex-specific vulnerabilities, and what these findings may mean for women’s mental health research and clinical practice. Beyond her scientific work, Iris reflects on her PhD experience and the importance of…

People in this episode

Host: Franziska Weinmar

Guest: Iris Hamers

Topics covered

• women's mental health
• sex differences
• schizophrenia
• psychosis
• clinical neuroscience
• research communities

Keywords

• mental health
• sex differences
• schizophrenia
• psychosis
• clinical neuroscience
• research
• women's health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University Medical Center Groningen, Sex and Gender in Health Research Roundtable

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