Matosin was interested in science and curing the world of disease from an early age and went on to study a Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours, Class 1) at the University of Wollongong. Matosin was awarded a PhD in neurobiology from the University of Wollongong with a thesis "Exploring mGluR5 dysregulation in schizophrenia: from gene to protein". She went on to hold a postdoctoral position at University of New South Wales. In 2023, the University of Wollongong awarded Matosin the Young Alumni Award, recognising outstanding graduates aged 35 or younger who have made exceptional professional strides and demonstrated early-career leadership.
Career and research
Matosin currently works as a Sydney Horizon Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. She previously worked at the University of New South Wales, the University of Wollongong and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Germany. The focus of Matosin's research has been on the physical and chemical clues that remain in brain tissue following the effects of stress over a lifetime. Matosin analyses human brain specimens to pinpoint differences in the brains of those diagnosed with brain disorders compared to the brains of healthy donors, as these form targets for new and improved brain medicines.
Matosin was working in Germany during the arrival of large numbers of Syrian refugees, and her research now includes collaboration with the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors. Together they study the impact of trauma on refugee populations in the Sydney community, examining its impact on the body's physiology at a molecular level and its relationship to mental illness.
Publication
Her most cited articles are:
Natalie Matosin, Thorhildur Halldorsdottir, Elisabeth B Binder. "Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning gene by environment interactions in psychiatric disorders: the FKBP5 model." Biological Psychiatry (2018) 83 (10), 821-830
Natalie Matosin, Cristiana Cruceanu , Elisabeth B Binder . Preclinical and Clinical Evidence of DNA Methylation Changes in Response to Trauma and Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress (2017) 1
Publications from her independent research group include:
Dominic Kaul, Sybille G Schwab, Naguib Mechawar, Lezanne Ooi, Natalie Matosin "Alterations in Astrocytic Regulation of Excitation and Inhibition by Stress Exposure and in Severe Psychopathology". Journal of Neuroscience (2022) 42 (36), 6823-6834
Dominic Kaul, Sybille G Schwab, Naguib Mechawar, Natalie Matosin "How Stress Physically Re-shapes the Brain: Impact on Brain Cell Shapes, Numbers and Connections in Psychiatric Disorders". Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews (2021) 124, 193-215
Rachael Bartlett, Zoltan Sarnyai, Shakeh Momartin, Lezanne Ooi, Sibylle G Schwab, Natalie Matosin. Understanding the pathology of psychiatric disorders in refugees. Psychiatry Research (2021) 296, 113661
Dominic Kaul, Caine C Smith, Julia Stevens, Anna S Fröhlich, Elisabeth B Binder, Naguib Mechawar, Sibylle G Schwab, Natalie Matosin. Severe childhood and adulthood stress associates with neocortical layer-specific reductions of mature spines in psychiatric disorders. Neurobiology of Stress (2020) 13, 100270
Recognition and awards
2026 Finalist, University of Sydney Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science, Technology and Engineering, Eureka Prizes
