Dr Mondelli's research interest focuses on the interplay between physical and mental health and on the role of biological systems involved in the stress response in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. Among her most important research achievements: first, she described abnormal biological response to stress at onset of psychosis; second, she identified the biological response to stress (including inflammation and cortisol secretion) as one of the factors contributing to the brain abnormalities found at psychosis onset; and third, she showed that increased inflammatory markers and cortisol at the onset of psychosis predict a poor treatment response at 3-month follow-up.  More recently she has started leading two main projects to investigate the involvement of inflammation in the pathogenesis and treatment response in depression, including a clinical trial testing the effects of anti-inflammatory treatment in treatment resistant depression. She has also leading a new project looking at the link between obesity and depression in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. She has recently been awarded £1.2M by MQ to lead a new global mental health consortium aiming to identify predictors of depression early in adolescence (IDEA project). Dr Mondelli is also the NIHR SLaM BRC Research Champion in mental and physical interface.

Dr. Valeria Mondelli is a Reader in Psychoneuroimmunology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) and a Liaison Consultant Psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital. After having obtained her medical degree and specialty degree in psychiatry at the University of Turin in Italy, she moved to London in 2005 where she obtained her PhD in Psychological Medicine in 2009. She was then awarded a NIHR Clinical Lectureship, and continued to conduct her research and clinical work between the IoPPN and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She is currently BRC Research Champion on Mental-Physical health interface at IoPPN. She is also President of the Psychiatry Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. She is Associated Editor of the journal "Brain, Behavior, and Immunity", one of the most cited journals in the field of Psychoneuroimmunology. She has received many international awards for he research work, including the 2018 Emerging Leaders in Adolescent Mental Health prize by the Medical Research Foundation.