Lorena Fernández de la Cruz
About me
I completed my PhD in psychiatry and clinical psychology and defended my thesis with honors in 2013 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In my dissertation, I explored the clinical heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents. For four years, I worked at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King's College London. During my last year at the IoP, I completed a one-year postdoc in the Mood and Development Laboratory at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I moved to Stockholm in 2014 for a second postdoc at the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Across the Lifespan research group at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience (CNS), led by Professor David Mataix-Cols, where I started working with psychiatric epidemiology designs. Currently, I am a Lektor / Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at CNS. I am also the Equal Treatment Representative (Ombud för Lika Villkor) for the Department and the Dissemination and Outreach Coordinator for BUP Forsknings och Utvecklingscentrum (BUP FoUU) at the Stockholm Mental Health Services (SLSO), Region Stockholm.
Research
I am the team leader of the “Health consequences and lifestyle modification group”, within the larger Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders Across the Lifespan research group. My team aims to study health outcomes, life expectancy, and causes of mortality in OCD and related conditions, such as tic disorders and anxiety disorders. We also study societal outcomes (e.g., educational attainment, labour market participation) in these disorders. We mainly use epidemiological methods in order to respond to our research questions.
Building upon the results from our epidemiological research on the association between OCD and health-related disorders, we have developed and are currently testing a lifestyle intervention to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with OCD.
I am also interested in the development and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for OCD and related conditions. We are currently recruiting participants to take part in a clinical trial for adolescents with body dysmorphic disorder.
Teaching
I am a frequent lecturer on OCD and related disorders, as well as methodological aspects of clinical research, for undergraduate (psychology and medical programs), MSc, and PhD students at Karolinska Institutet and for psychologists and psychiatrists within the Stockholm healthcare services. I am the leader of the KI PhD course Clinical Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Methods and Practice.
I am the main supervisor for two PhD students (Anna Holmberg and Sofia Asplund), and co-supervisor for another four PhD students (Martina Gumpert, Sofia Jägholm, Anita Birovecz, and Moa Warnström) at Karolinska Institutet.
Previous students that have already completed their doctoral studies under my supervision include Alba Vilaplana Pérez (2021), Laura Sevilla Cermeño (2021), Tianyang Zhang (2022), and Daniel Rautio (2024) for whom I was the main supervisor, and Per Andrén (2022), for whom I was a co-supervisor. I was also postdoc supervisor for Dr. Maral Jolstedt (2022-2024).
Articles
- Article: BJPSYCH OPEN. 2025;11(5):e171
- Article: COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY. 2025;:1-19
- Article: JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH. 2025;189:382-387
- Article: CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. 2025;:1-11
- Article: JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH. 2025;189:26-32
- Article: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 2025;15(1):10396
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS. 2025;40(2):335-344
- Article: BMJ MENTAL HEALTH. 2025;28(1):e301323
- Article: BMC PSYCHOLOGY. 2024;12(1):731
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2024;96(11):868-875
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2024;30(6):2457-2462
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2024;97(7):672-677
- Article: NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS. 2024;161:105678
- Article: COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY. 2024;53(3):254-266
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2024;7(5):e248468
- Journal article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2024;55(2):376-390
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2024;55(2):376-390
- Article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2024;81(3):284-291
- Article: BMC PSYCHIATRY. 2024;24(1):98
- Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2024;53(1):dyad184
- Article: BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL. 2024;384:e077564
- Article: INTERNET INTERVENTIONS-THE APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN MENTAL AND BEHAVIOURAL HEALTH. 2023;34:100688
- Article: CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. 2023;54(6):1799-1806
- Article: BMJ OPEN. 2023;13(10):e069427
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS. 2023;38(8):1419-1427
- Article: BMC PSYCHIATRY. 2023;23(1):442
- Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY. 2023;381:120-127
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2023;93(11):1023-1030
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2023;6(6):e2318212
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2023;53(7):3056-3064
- Article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2023;80(4):323-330
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2023;54(1):43-50
- Article: JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH. 2022;154:117-122
- Journal article: EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY. 2022;63:e138-e139
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2022;53(5):1037-1049
- Article: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2022;57(9):1817-1827
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2022;5(8):e2225614
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2022;5(6):e2214779
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2022;52(7):1268-1276
- Article: JAMA NEUROLOGY. 2022;79(5):459-467
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2022;27(3):1712-1719
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS. 2022;37(2):392-400
- Article: EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. 2022;31(1):133-144
- Article: PSYCHOTHERAPY AND PSYCHOSOMATICS. 2022;91(6):424-430
- Article: CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. 2021;52(5):916-927
- Article: JAMA NEUROLOGY. 2021;78(10):1205-1211
- Article: CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. 2021;52(4):739-750
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2021;52(4):821-829
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS CLINICAL PRACTICE. 2021;8(3):412-419
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2021;26(4):1224-1233
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2021;51(5):861-869
- Article: JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH. 2021;135:189-196
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2021;4(3):e210837
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2021;26(3):974-985
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2021;89(4):407-414
- Article: JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS. 2021;281:422-430
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2021;51(1):83-89
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS. 2021;36(1):188-195
- Article: MOVEMENT DISORDERS. 2020;35(12):2270-2278
- Article: JAMA NETWORK OPEN. 2020;3(12):e2028477
- Article: NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS. 2020;119:514-520
- Article: NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS. 2020;118:504-513
- Article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2020;77(11):1147-1154
- Article: EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. 2020;29(9):1289-1299
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2020;51(5):753-763
- Article: BMC PSYCHIATRY. 2020;20(1):242
- Article: JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS. 2020;266:413-416
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2020;50(4):616-624
- Article: JOURNAL OF ANXIETY DISORDERS. 2019;68:102149
- Article: BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL. 2019;367:l5784
- Article: TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY. 2019;9(1):227
- Article: EUROPEAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. 2019;28(8):1137-1145
- Article: BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL. 2019;365:l1255
- Article: SLEEP MEDICINE. 2019;56:104-110
- Article: JAMA NEUROLOGY. 2019;76(4):454-461
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2019;49(6):1015-1024
- Article: JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY. 2018;28(9):637-645
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2018;84(5):324-331
- Article: JAMA NEUROLOGY. 2018;75(9):1098-1105
- Article: CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. 2018;49(4):607-620
- Article: PLOS MEDICINE. 2018;15(8):e1002635
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2018;23(7):1652-1658
- Article: JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 2018;319(23):2388-2400
- Article: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH. 2018;23(2):99-106
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2018;23(5):1189-1197
- Article: TRANSCULTURAL PSYCHIATRY. 2018;55(2):261-285
- Article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2018;75(1):47-55
- Article: MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY. 2017;22(11):1626-1632
- Article: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. 2017;82(2):111-118
- Article: BEHAVIOR THERAPY. 2017;48(4):462-473
- Journal article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2017;74(5):501-510
- Article: JAMA PSYCHIATRY. 2016;73(11):1135-1144
- Journal article: CURRENT PSYCHIATRY REVIEWS. 2016;12(2):115-123
- Article: JOURNAL OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE AND RELATED DISORDERS. 2016;9:66-72
- Article: SOCIAL PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2016;51(3):455-464
- Article: BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. 2015;207(6):530-535
- Article: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. 2015;54(11):895-904
- Article: JOURNAL OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE AND RELATED DISORDERS. 2015;5:37-42
- Journal article: GIORNALE ITALIANO DI PSICOPATOLOGIA. 2015;21(4):354-364
- Article: JOURNAL OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE AND RELATED DISORDERS. 2015;4:30-36
- Article: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY. 2015;54(1):62-70.e3
- Article: JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS. 2014;159:7-14
- Article: JOURNAL OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE AND RELATED DISORDERS. 2014;3(1):29-34
- Article: BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. 2013;203(6):445-452
- Article: PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH. 2013;209(2):196-201
- Article: DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY. 2013;30(8):732-740
- Article: JOURNAL OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE AND RELATED DISORDERS. 2013;2(3):346-350
- Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS PART B-NEUROPSYCHIATRIC GENETICS. 2013;162B(4):380-387
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2013;43(5):1069-1079
- Article: COMPREHENSIVE PSYCHIATRY. 2013;54(3):229-237
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2013;43(4):837-847
- Article: JOURNAL OF ANXIETY DISORDERS. 2013;27(2):204-209
- Article: DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY. 2013;30(1):61-66
- Article: EUROPEAN PSYCHIATRY. 2012;27(8):598-604
- Article: DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY. 2012;29(3):210-218
- Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2011;41(12):2475-2484
- Article: PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH. 2009;170(2-3):241-244
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Employments
- Senior Lecturer, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
Degrees and Education
- Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2021
- PhD, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2013