Stress represents the single most important cause of disease, causing costs as high as 3-4 % of the European GNP, and up to 60% of all work-days lost to disease. Many of these diseases are related to infections and aberrant immune reactions. Our interest is in elucidating genetic, epigenetic, transcriptional, translation and post-translational mechanisms underlying environmental control of the stress reaction, particularly within the negative feedback loop of the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) axis. 

The main goal of our research is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the environmental control of phenotype development, in the HPA axis and in the immune system.