About Nico Bast

Due to university clinic IT shutdown, currently use my Uni email for contact: nbast@med.uni-frankfurt.de

I am an independent research group leader (MIND-CHILD lab) funded by the Emmy Noether Programme and Head of Clinical Research at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Goethe University Hospital. I further am a licensed psychotherapist and conduct cognitive-behavioral treatments in children. My research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of neurodevelopmental conditions and general psychopathology. My work emphasizes the application of pupillometry as a scalable neuroimaging tool in young and clincial populations. This aims to bridge the gap between developmental neuroscience and clinical application. I envision a future in which we can utilize pupillometry as an early marker to guide prevention strategies that strengthen lifetime mental health.

Sometimes, I go out for a walk.

My PhD. was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dr. Tobias Banaschewski at the Central Institute of Mental Health and explored eye tracking as a diagnostic tool in neurodiversity. I am affiliated with the largest European research consortium on autism (AIMS-2-TRIALS), which shaped my interest in collaborative and interdisciplinary research. I received a Master in “Developmental and Clinical Psychology” (2013) and Bachelor in Psychology (2010) from the Heidelberg University with research stays at the Max Planck Institute for Human Develeopment (Gerd Gigerenzer) and Center for Behavioral Decision Research (George Loewenstein).