Ulrike Lueken obtained her diploma in psychology at the University of Freiburg in 2003. She accomplished her PhD degree on altered mood states and HPA axis function in stroke patients in 2006 at the University of Trier. Moving to the Technische Universität (TU) Dresden, Ulrike Lueken started her post-doctoral career in 2007 at the Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (director: Prof. Dr. Phil. Habil. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen) where she explored the neural signature of anxiety and its mechanisms of change following cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy as part of the national research initiative “panic-net”. Meanwhile, she completed the International Master in Affective Neuroscience (2011) and a posgraduate psychotherapy training (2014). Ulrike Lueken is currently appointed as full professor at the Dept. of. Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy (Director: Prof. Dr. med. Jürgen Deckert) at the University Hospital Würzburg. Ulrike Lueken has been a regular member of the ethics committee at the TU Dresden, obtained the ECNP Fellowship Award in 2014 and was principle investigator in a collaborative research centre located at the TU Dresden (CRC 940: Volition and Cognitive Control).

As a psychologist with advanced training in experimental neuroscience as well as in clinical psychology and psychotherapy Ulrike Lueken’s research emphasis lies on two fields: first, the examination of neural fear circuitry dysfunctions involved in fear, anxiety and its disorders and second, the experimental and clinical modification of such dysfunctions in patients with anxiety disorders by use of cognitive and behavioural interventions focussing on fear conditioning and extinction as the core paradigm.