Walter Osika MD, PhD

Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet,  Stockholm, Sweden

Associate professor in clinical neuroscience and physician specialized in internal medicine, cardiology, and psychiatry.

My research interests are early risk factors for cardiovascular disease and psychiatric disorders, diagnostics of autism and ADHD, mental stress and exhaustion disorders, as well as prevention and treatment of stress related disorders.

I am also interested in social neuroscience, including contemplative science including research on empathy, compassion and how thoughts, feelings and behavior at both individual and group level are affected under stress. How different types of mind sets and different environments are related to sustainability, and whether these mind sets and in the long run behaviors can be influenced, are the subject of several studies we conduct in collaboration with, among others, researchers at Lund University.

How the COVID-19 pandemic impact mental health, inequality and particularly vulnerable groups, and how we can develop evidence-based guidelines and improve multilevel governance is the focus of the comprehensive research project PERISCOPE, in which we participate together with a significant number of partners from different parts of EU.