Dr Lena Oestreich

Dr Lena Oestreich specializes in clinical neuroimaging and computational neuroscience: big data, new therapies and technologies for mental illness

Dr Oestreich's primary research interest lies at the intersection of clinical neuroimaging and computational neuroscience. She is particularly interested in studying mental illness using big data and advanced, multimodal neuroimaging methods. More recently, one of her research areas focuses on the neural mechanisms underpinning psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, to improve our understanding of their profound potential to offer rapid and long-lasting relief from severe psychiatric symptoms. Dr Oestreich holds a highly competitive NHMRC Investigator grant (2022-2026) and has generated high quality outputs, with an average of 41.1 citations per publication, 94.4% of publications in Q1 CiteScore Journals, 23.5% publications in the top 10%, and one publication in the top 1% most cited publications worldwide (SciVal, 2024).

Collaborations

Dr Oestreich has ongoing collaborations with leaders in the fields of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including Prof. Shenton and Prof. Pasternak at Harvard University, as well as Prof. Thiebaut de Schotten at Université de Bordeaux. Dr Oestreich also closely collaborates with Prof. Carhart-Harris, a world expert in brain imaging studies and clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapies at University College London and the University of California, San Francisco.

Funding

Structural and functional brain disconnections associated with depression in stroke survivors
(2024–2026) Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Post-stroke depression: vulnerability, mechanisms and novel treatment targets
(2022–2026) NHMRC Investigator Grants

CASS Travel Grant
(2022) The Cass Foundation Limited

International Brain Research Organization International Travel Grant
(2020–2021) IBRO International Travel Grant

Effective and structural brain networks underlying statistical learning.
(2017) Ian Potter Foundation"

Key Publications

Oestreich LKL, Wright P, O’Sullivan MJ (2022). Hyperconnectivity and altered interactions of a nucleus accumbens network in post-stroke depression. Brain Communications. 2;4(6):fcac281. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac281

Oestreich LKL, Lo JW, Di Biase MA, Sachdev PS, Mok AH, Wright P, Crawford JD, Lam B, Traykov L, Köhler S, Staals JEA, van Oostenbrugge R, Chen C, Desmond DW, Yu K‐H, Lee M, Klimkowicz‐Mrowiec A, Bordet R, O'Sullivan MJ, Zalesky A (2023). Network analysis of neuropsychiatric, cognitive, and functional complications of stroke: implications for novel treatment targets. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. doi: 10.1111/pcn.13633

O’Sullivan* MJ, Oestreich* LKL, Wright P & Clarkson AN. 2022, Cholinergic and hippocampal systems facilitate cross-domain cognitive recovery after stroke, 145(5), 1698–1710, doi:10.1093/brain/awac070. *Co-first authorship

Oestreich LKL, O’Sullivan MJ. (2022). Transdiagnostic in vivo magnetic resonance imaging markers of neuroinflammation. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 7(7), 638-658. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.01.003

Oestreich LKL, Randeniya R, Garrido MI. (2019). Auditory white matter pathways are associated with effective connectivity of auditory prediction errors within a fronto-temporal network. NeuroImage, 195, 454-462. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.008

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