Researchers traditionally investigate the impact of individual candidate genes, epigenetic markers (i.e. mechanism that change gene expression without changing the DNA), and environmental exposures on psychosisphenotypes in isolation.

However, this approach appears to be an oversimplified strategy that does not capture the complex etiology of psychosis. With the Niels Stensen Fellowship, Lotta will investigate the contribution of environmental, epigenetic, and genetic factors to the vulnerability for psychosis spectrum disorders.