Recent Publications

Peer Mentorship: An Underrecognized Tool to Faculty Success

Peer mentorship is an important tool to promote faculty success, especially for individuals who engage in (typically undervalued) work to advance gender equity. The purpose of this research letter is to share our experiences establishing a “Gender Equity Works-in-Progress Group.”

Endorsement of a single-item measure of sleep disturbance during pregnancy and risk for postpartum depression: a retrospective cohort study.

Prenatal sleep disturbance as measured by a single-item administered in all three trimesters of pregnancy was associated with higher odds of postpartum depressive symptoms. A routinely administered single-item measure of sleep disturbance could identify otherwise lower-risk pregnant individuals who may benefit from depression prevention efforts.

Gender Composition in Biomedical Research Grant Submissions and Grant Review Panels Before Versus During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study looked at the proportion of men and women applicants and grant reviewers before and during the pandemic collected from the Health Research Alliance (HRA), which funds biomedical research and training. The gender composition of grant applicants and grant review panels remained similar, except for the review panel composition for one large funder.

Perimenopausal Effects of Estradiol on Anhedonia and Psychosis Study (PEEPs): study protocol for a neural and molecular mechanistic clinical trial

This publication provides an overview of a new clinical trial examining the effects of hormone replacement therapy on perimenopausal mood symptoms and brain indices of dopamine signaling.

Effect of tACS on prefrontal neural activity is menstrual phase dependent in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder

A case series providing evidence that the impact of tACS is dependent on context of affective and brain state.

Mental Activity as the Bridge Between Neural Biomarkers and Symptoms of Psychiatric Illness

We propose that the best chance to discover biomarkers and treatment targets for psychiatric illness is to investigate the relationship between a specific symptom, the correlated mental activity, and the correlated neural activity signature.

Reward-Based Decision-Making Engages Distinct Modes of Cross-Frequency Coupling

Goal directed behavior and reward evaluation were found to be linked with distinct neural oscillations. Furthermore, mood symptoms of depression appear to be related to reward-evaluation and motivation symptoms appear to be related to goal-directed behavior.

Closed-loop control of bistable symptom states

Response to paper suggesting the precise mechanism for depressive symptom reduction in closed-loop deep brain stimulation could be illuminated by a dynamical systems approach.

Alpha transcranial alternating current stimulation reduces depressive symptoms in people with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations: a double-blind, randomized pilot clinical trial.

A pilot trials investigating the effect of tACS in treating auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia.

A phase II single-arm trial of memantine for prevention of cognitive decline during chemotherapy in patients with early breast cancer: Feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, and preliminary effects

This is one of the first studies to examine the use of a medication to minimize cognitive changes that may occur during chemotherapy for breast cancer.