Category: Research Publications

Microglia are brain cells involved in innate immune responses. This publication finds unique changes in microglia in the post-mortem cerebral cortex of individuals with alcohol use disorder and links them to activation of astrocytes and loss of neurons.

This special issue for the Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy examines how chaplaincy is evolving and adapting to provide relevant and critical spiritual care services in a time of increasing religious pluralism. Dr. Nieuwsma oversaw the special issue as the senior associate editor.

Our work uncovers a unifying synchronization principle behind both brain rhythms and machine intelligence. By modeling neural oscillations and embedding their dynamics into graph neural networks, we develop a new brain-inspired framework (HoloBrain/HoloGraph) that overcomes GNN over-smoothing and enables more powerful reasoning on graphs.

This study reveals that psilocin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, reduces alcohol consumption in female mice by suppressing specific stress-related neurons in the brain. These findings offer new insight into the biological mechanisms that may allow psychedelic therapies to effectively treat alcohol use disorder.

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core symptom of autism. The current diagnostic system separates RRBs into four domains. These findings suggest that, based on data driven methods, RRBs may be best understood as 3 domains in verbally-able individuals and 2 domains in non-verbal individuals.

To improve access to care, we are developing and testing First Approach Skills Training- Disordered Eating (FAST-DE), a brief intervention to treat disordered eating in primary care settings. In this study, we conducted focus groups with adolescents and caregivers from the Latino community who had lived experience with disordered eating...

This paper reported on a new screening tool for children that measures their risk for problematic substance use and other risky behaviors in adolescence. This screening allows children with high risk to receive prevention potentially years before they would otherwise begin problematic behavior.

This study conducted a qualitative analysis of individual interviews and focus groups with caregivers of young people experiencing psychosis to elucidate the challenges associated with navigating the mental healthcare system and providing effective support to their relative. Participants also provided perspectives on desired features and functionality of a digital support...

This scoping review synthesized all interventions that tested either the prevention or improvement of mental health for adolescents living with HIV. It provides valuable insights into improving the mental health of HIV-infected adolescents and can guide further research and practice in this area.

This paper provides the protocol for a pilot trial that will investigate the feasibility, acceptability, fidelity, and preliminary efficacy of a combined youth-friendly suicide prevention and problem-solving intervention in reducing suicidal ideation and behaviors in adolescents living with HIV (ALWH) in Malawi.