Recent Publications

Multisystem stress response biotypes: a precision psychiatry approach to identifying and treating multidimensional risk factors for anhedonia in adolescence

Adolescence is a critical period of developmental changes in neurobiological and psychological systems, rendring it both a period of vulnerability for the emergence of risk factors associated with psychopathology and a period of opportunity for the implementation of targeted prevention and interventions. Anhedonia (i.e., the reduced ability to anticipate or experience pleasure) is a core … Read more

Neurosteroid [3α,5α]3-hydroxypregnan-20-one inhibition of chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in alcohol-preferring rat brain neurons, microglia, and astroglia

Background: Neuroimmune dysfunction in alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with activation of myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)-dependent Toll-like receptors (TLR) resulting in overexpression of the chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2). MCP-1 overexpression in the brain is linked to anxiety, higher alcohol intake, neuronal death, and activation of microglia observed in AUD. The neurosteroid … Read more

Interneuron-selective HCN channel knockdown in prelimbic cortex of female rats mimics effects of chronic ethanol exposure

Our laboratory has previously shown that chronic ethanol exposure elicits enhanced working memory performance in female, but not male, adult Sprague-Dawley rats, indicative of a fundamental sex difference in cortical plasticity. Recent studies have furthermore revealed that females display markedly reduced HCN-mediated channel activity in inhibitory Martinotti interneurons after chronic ethanol exposure that is similarly … Read more

Neurosteroid [3α,5α]-3-Hydroxy-pregnan-20-one Enhances the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 Pathway in the Brain of Alcohol-Preferring Rats with Sex-Specificity

This study investigates the impact of allopregnanolone ([3α,5α]3-hydroxypregnan-20-one or 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone (3α,5α-THP); 10 mg/kg, IP) on fractalkine/CX3-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CX3CL1) levels, associated signaling components, and markers for microglial and astrocytic cells in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of male and female alcohol-preferring (P) rats. Previous research suggested that 3α,5α-THP enhances anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) cytokine production … Read more

Feasibility, acceptability, and depression outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (MSC-T) for adolescents with subsyndromal depression.

Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens, an 8 session program which focuses on cultivating self-compassion as a coping skill for teens, was determined to be feasible, acceptable, and efficacious in preventing the development of clinically significant depression in adolescents with some depressive symptoms.

Facilitated Peer Group Mentoring for Underrepresented Biomedical Researchers: Facilitators’ Experiences and Implications for Dissemination of a Curriculum

Peer group mentoring facilitated by senior faculty represents an effective approach. We explored motivations, benefits, and challenges for facilitators enrolled to deploy an intervention in the context of a randomized controlled trial that tested two peer group mentoring strategies for underrepresented early career researchers.

Early cognitive development and psychopathology in children at familial high risk for schizophrenia

We studied cognitive development and psychopathology in children 4 and 6 years old who where at familial risk for developing schizophrenia and found delayed cognitive development and high rates of symptoms such as anxiety and attention problems, earlier than has previously been described. This indicates that risk for schizophrenia is expressed early in childhood, and … Read more

Research with women sexual assault survivors presenting for emergency care is safe: Results from a multi-site, prospective observational cohort study

A large cohort of 706 women sexual assault survivors presenting to emergency care were recruited nationwide and followed over one year post-assault. Our findings suggested that the vast majority of women rated their research experience as positive (95-97%), denied drawbacks (84-89%), and reported participating was worth it (93-95%), and these positive experiences were stable and … Read more

Analysis of Depression and Anxiety Scores Following Initiation of Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor in Adults With Cystic Fibrosis.

This work examines whether there are changes in the self-report of anxiety and depression symptoms in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who started taking elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (E/T/I), a new medication that shows great promise in the treatment of CF. The study found that there were no changes in these symptoms in the overall study population, but … Read more

Neighborhood Resources Associated With Psychological Trajectories and Neural Reactivity to Reward After Trauma

Research on resilience after trauma has often focused on individual-level factors (e.g., extensive trauma history) and overlooked influential neighborhood-level factors that may help mitigate the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We applied geospatial analyses to the AURORA Study dataset and evaluated whether greenspace was associated with PTSD trajectories. We found that individuals with greater … Read more