PhD defence: Leonardo Melo Rothmann
PhD project explores how vulnerability to substance-use problems develops from childhood
Info about event
Time
Location
G206-124 Auditorium, Aarhus University Hospital
On Thursday 1 October 2026 at 14:00, Leonardo Melo Rothmann defends his PhD dissertation entiled “The Developmental Origins of Addiction Vulnerability: Brain Trajectories from Early Adversity to Clinical Outcomes”.
Substance-use disorders usually become apparent in adolescence or early adulthood, but the vulnerability that precedes them builds up much earlier. This PhD project from Aarhus University, Health, examines how this vulnerability takes shape across development.
Combining information about children's psychosocial environment, brain imaging and molecular (epigenetic) markers, the project followed a large Brazilian cohort from childhood into young adulthood, and separately studied an independent group of adults in treatment for cocaine use
disorder. The aim was to understand which signs of vulnerability appear before substance use begins, which emerge as use continues, and which characterise the disorder once it is established.
Taken together, the work suggests that vulnerability to substance-use problems is not a single, fixed trait but something that develops in stages, and that social and behavioural factors, such as early substance use and peers who use substances, are closely linked to whether problems persist. This developmental view may help identify the periods in which prevention is most likely to help.
The summary is written by the PhD student.
The defence is public and takes place G206-124 Auditorium, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information.
Contact
PhD student Leonardo Melo Rothmann
Mail: leo@clin.au.dk
Phone: +45 50338266