Dr Monica Aas joined the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King’s College London as an MRC CDA Fellow in 2022.

Monica has several strands of active research. She is primarily interested in 1) the health, cognition, life experiences in people with a severe mental illness. She is also interested in 2) the impact of both inherited and environmental risk of mental health. Additionally, her research also explores 3) the role of stress on ageing.

To explore these areas, Monica works with a range of datasets, including the Genes and psychosis (GAP) dataset comprised of people with a first-episode psychosis followed up for 5 years, and the EU-GEI study (EUropean Network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions); a multisite incidence and case-control study of genetic and environmental determinants involved in the development of psychotic disorders. Monica has also worked with the TOP/NORMENT database in Norway comprised of individuals with a psychotic or a bipolar disorder.

Prior to joining the SGDP as a staff member in 2022, Monica worked full-time as a Clinical Psychologist in Oslo, Norway. She has also until recently held the position as an Associate Professor at OsloMet university, Oslo, Norway.

Research interests

• Stress
• Ageing
• Health
• Cognition
• Mental health disorders
• Resilience

Teaching

Monica is actively involved in the MSc Developmental Psychology & Psychopathology programme. She was the co-leader of the “Psychological Approaches to Treatment” PAT module in 2022/2023 and the 2023/2024 semester. In 2024/2025 she is a lead on the skill development section of the MSc. She will also provide teaching on principles of cognitive behavioral therapy CBT in the PAT module.

Monica also supervises project students at MSc levels in topics related to stress and mental health. Monica is the main supervisor of PhD student Vid Mlakar. Vid’s project investigates the role of telomere length and lifestyle factors in severe mental disorder. Another person in Monica’s group is Dr Elise (Els) Halff. Els is a postdoctoral researcher exploring the role of stress on telomere length in stem cells from patients with psychosis and in healthy individual. The stem cell stress project is a performed in collaboration with Professor Deepak at the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopment Disorders, Wohl Cellular Imaging Centre, King’s College London.

Expertise and public engagement

Monica is one of the founders of the Young Academy in Norway. She has written more than 70 publications on the role of stress and mental health; she has been a Guest Editor or board members of several journals, including the Frontiers and the Psychiatry research. She has received numerous awards, including the NARSAD Young investigator award.