Principal Investigators

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Principal Investigators

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Addictions

Emma Childs PhD

  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Emma Childs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Director of The Human Addiction Psychopharmacology laboratory. Dr Childs’ research is dedicated to improving our understanding of addictive disorders. One of her primary areas of interest is studying how powerful associations are formed between abused drugs and cues (i.e., the people, places and paraphernalia) surrounding drug use.

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Emma Childs

Natania Crane PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. Crane is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of Substance Use Disorders, especially Cannabis Use Disorder. An important aspect of her research is studying the relationship between clinical mental health factors and substance use, particularly between depression and cannabis use. Dr. Crane received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, completed her Clinical Internship and T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIC, with an emphasis in Neuropsychology. She has received Early Career Travel Awards from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychological Foundation, as well as a K23 Early Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Natania Craine

Niranjan S. Karnik MD, PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions
  • Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Karnik is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions, and Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He serves as Director of the Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His research focuses on data science, technology, and community-based interventions for vulnerable populations with psychiatric and substance use disorders. In the past, he has worked with refugee children on the Pakistan-Afghan border, street children in India, foster youth in Central Illinois, and incarcerated youth in California. He worked at a youth homeless shelter in San Francisco and is continuing work with youth experiencing homelessness youth in Chicago. He is presently a PI or Co-PI on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Niranjan S. Karnik

Katherine McMurray PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. McMurray’s research interests focus on understanding the neurobiology of comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders, such as alcohol use disorders, panic disorder, and PTSD, with the goal of more effectively treating and diagnosing these disorders. Dr. McMurray received a BA in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed her doctoral work with Dr. Abraham Palmer at the University of Chicago where she investigated the role of the gene Glo1 in models of alcohol use disorders, anxiety, and depression, and evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of targeting GLO1 using small molecule inhibitors. Dr. McMurray then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Renu Sah at the University of Cincinnati where she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship from NIMH to investigate neurocircuitry underlying panic and PTSD vulnerability.

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Katherine McMurray

Sarah Messmer MD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Clinical Medicine & Pediatrics
  • University of Illinois Chicago

Dr. Sarah Messmer specializes in both pediatrics and internal medicine and provides primary care to both adults and children. Dr. Messmer cares for patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings at UI Health. Her clinical interests include immigrant and refugee health, LGBTQ+ health, and gender-affirming care, global health, and opioid use disorder.

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Sarah Messmer

Subhash C. Pandey PhD

  • Joseph A. Flaherty MD, Endowed Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics
  • Professor of Biochemistry in Psychiatry
  • Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology
  • Director, Neuroscience Alcoholism Research
  • Senior VA Career Research Scientist
  • Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Subhash Pandey is a nationally and internationally well-known neuroscientist in the alcohol addiction field and has contributed significantly towards a better understanding of the neurobiology of alcoholism. Two striking features of alcohol addiction are the rapid onset of tolerance to the acute effects of alcohol and the development of ethanol withdrawal symptoms after cessation of protracted ethanol consumption.

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Subash C. Pandey

Judith A. Richman PhD

  • Professor of Epidemiology in Psychiatry

Dr. Richman is a sociologist and psychiatric epidemiologist who has been the Principal Investigator on NIH-funded longitudinal studies for the past 25 years.

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Judith A. Richman

Kathleen M. Rospenda PhD

  • Professor of Psychology
  • UIC Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Kathy Rospenda is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and an Adjunct Member of the Graduate Faculty in UIC’s School Public Health. From 2018-2022, she was the Director of the Targeted Research Training Program in the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Health and Safety. She is an affiliate of the UIC Center for Healthy Work, a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-funded Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health®. Dr. Rospenda’s research centers on occupational stressors and their impact on mental health, physical health, and drinking behavior. She is a leading researcher in the area of workplace harassment.

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Kathleen M. Rospenda

Dale L. Smith PhD

  • Senior Data Scientist
Dr. Smith is a senior data scientist in the Psychiatry department’s Institute for Juvenile Research and Digital Mental Health program. His research focuses on statistical and machine learning applications in mental health and public health. This has included extensive collaborations in studies involving post-traumatic stress disorder, autism spectrum disorder, substance use disorders, and psychiatric outcomes in homeless youth and children with sleep disordered breathing. 

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Dale L. Smith

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - ADHD

Marc S. Atkins PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Atkins is a licensed clinical psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology and past Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He developed and led the internship in clinical psychology for the Department of Psychiatry for two decades and has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on career development awards and postdoctoral fellowships. He currently directs the Community Engagement and Collaboration core for UIC’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science. He is the recipient of numerous grants from the NIMH and private foundations examining new models for mental health practice in urban communities to address long-standing disparities in mental health care for children and families living in high poverty urban communities. He currently is Co-PI with Dr. Tara Mehta on a grant from the NIMH studying community health worker navigation into mental health services for urban children and families. He is active in public policy, including as a consultant to the Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois Division of Mental Health, and the Illinois State Board of Education on guidelines for school and community based mental health programs and practices, and to Chief Judge Timothy Evans of the Cook County Circuit Court on behavioral health programming for Restorative Justice Courts.

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Marc S. Atkins

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Anxiety Disorders

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Heide Klumpp PhD

  • Associate Professor
Dr. Klumpp takes a neuroscience approach to understand internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression for clinical translation. To this end, she uses electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging to delineate brain-based markers of clinical behavior and treatment outcome. She also uses sleep measures (e.g., actigraphy) to understand the intersection of sleep and internalizing disorders.

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Colleen Stiles-Shields PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Colleen Stiles-Shields is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her research is centered around harnessing digital mental health and telehealth as delivery mechanisms to reach and improve behavioral health targets for pediatric populations. Within this work, she specifically aims to design/adapt, evaluate, and disseminate technologies to better meet the needs of pediatric populations and their families, particularly those with socially complex needs (i.e., potentially overlapping experiences of adversities and minoritized identities).

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Colleen Stiles-Shields

Katherine McMurray PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. McMurray’s research interests focus on understanding the neurobiology of comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders, such as alcohol use disorders, panic disorder, and PTSD, with the goal of more effectively treating and diagnosing these disorders. Dr. McMurray received a BA in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed her doctoral work with Dr. Abraham Palmer at the University of Chicago where she investigated the role of the gene Glo1 in models of alcohol use disorders, anxiety, and depression, and evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of targeting GLO1 using small molecule inhibitors. Dr. McMurray then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Renu Sah at the University of Cincinnati where she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship from NIMH to investigate neurocircuitry underlying panic and PTSD vulnerability.

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Katherine McMurray

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Autism

Edwin H. Cook Jr. MD

  • Earl M Bane Professor of Psychiatry
  • Associate Head, Clinical Services
  • Director, Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dr. Cook is the Director of Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the Associate Head of Clinical Services in the department. Dr. Cook is board certified in both Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He specializes in treating comorbid psychiatric disorders for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Cook is also the Earl M. Bane Professor of Psychiatry.

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Edwin Cook Jr

John Larson PhD

  • Associate Professor Emeritus
John Larson is Associate Professor of Physiology in Psychiatry. He received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in understanding the role of synaptic plasticity mechanisms in learning and memory formation. Dr. Larson studies mouse models for diseases affecting learning and memory, such as Alzheimer’s disease and autism spectrum disorders. Of particular interest is the neurobiology of Fragile X Syndrome, a monogenetic disorder that is the most common inherited intellectual disability and the most common known cause of autism. Dr. Larson is also interested in the synaptic and cellular mechanisms responsible for neuronal damage after oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) as occurs in stroke.

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John Larson

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Biostatistics

Dulal K. Bhaumik PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Biostatistics and Bioengineering
  • Director, Biostatistical Research Center
Dulal is a Professor of Psychiatry, Biostatistics and Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. He received his BS in Statistics from Calcutta University, his MS in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, and his PhD in the same field from the University of Maryland. Before joining UIC, he served as a Professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at University of South Alabama.

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Dulal K. Bhaumik

Kwan Hur

Chunyu Liu PhD

  • Associate Professor

Dr. Liu has a long-term interest in understanding of molecular basis of psychiatric diseases. His laboratory participated in one of the bipolar genetics research consortiums and discovered the rare copy number variant (CNV) burden in early-onset bipolar disorder.

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Liu Chunyu

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Cognition

Olusola Ajilore MD, PhD

  • Associate Head for Faculty Development
  • University of Illinois Center for Depression and Resilience (UI CDR) Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
  • Director, Clinical Research Core/Center for Clinical and Translational Science
  • Director, Adult Neuroscience Residency Research Track
  • Co-Director, UICOM Medical Scientist Training Program
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois-Chicago
Dr. Ajilore's research goal is to understand the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder in the context of medical co-morbidities and late life using novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques. His group focuses on using structural and functional brain connectivity to study the brain as a network.

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Olusola Ajilore

Natania Crane PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. Crane is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of Substance Use Disorders, especially Cannabis Use Disorder. An important aspect of her research is studying the relationship between clinical mental health factors and substance use, particularly between depression and cannabis use. Dr. Crane received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, completed her Clinical Internship and T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIC, with an emphasis in Neuropsychology. She has received Early Career Travel Awards from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychological Foundation, as well as a K23 Early Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Natania Craine

Tina Grieco-Calub PhD, CCC-A

  • Visiting Associate Professor, Visiting Research Scientist
  • Director for Childhood Hearing Research
Tina Grieco-Calub, PhD, CCC-A is a visiting associate professor and the Director of Childhood Hearing Research in the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is an ASHA-certified audiologist who spent her early career providing clinical services to patients across the lifespan who are deaf or hard of hearing. She has integrated her clinical experience with her diverse research training in neuroscience, auditory development, and language acquisition to develop her current research program.

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Tina Grieco-Calub

Ellen S. Herbener PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology
Dr. Ellen Herbener received her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago, and her Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. She completed a psychology internship at Cambridge Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is a licensed clinical psychologist.

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Ellen S. Herbener

Kyle J. Jennette PhD, MA

  • Clinical Neuropsychologist
  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Jennette is Clinical Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine. Dr. Jennette earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Flagler College, master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of South Florida, and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. He completed his Clinical Psychology Internship at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at UI Health.

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Kyle Jennette

Anand Kumar MD, MHA

  • Department Head
  • Lizzie Gilman Professor

Anand Kumar, M.D., is Lizzie Gilman Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Madras, India.

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Kumar Anand

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Mani Pavuluri MD, PhD

  • Founding Director, Pediatric Mood Disorders Program
  • Professor in Psychiatry
Mani Pavuluri

Neil H. Pliskin PhD

  • Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Director, Neurobehavior Program
  • Director, Neuropsychology Service
Dr. Pliskin is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology with years of experience working as a neuropsychologist and directing Neuropsychology training programs. He has a special interest in the neuropsychological sequelae of medical illness. Dr. Pliskin has published in the areas of renal disease, multiple sclerosis, and dementia and is a nationally recognized expert in the area of electrical shock injuries.

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Neil Pliskin

Jennifer Suor PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Jennifer Suor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Dr. Suor is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Illinois. Dr. Suor received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester, with emphasis in developmental psychopathology. Dr. Suor completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago.  

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Jennifer Suor

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Data Science

Niranjan S. Karnik MD, PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions
  • Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Karnik is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions, and Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He serves as Director of the Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His research focuses on data science, technology, and community-based interventions for vulnerable populations with psychiatric and substance use disorders. In the past, he has worked with refugee children on the Pakistan-Afghan border, street children in India, foster youth in Central Illinois, and incarcerated youth in California. He worked at a youth homeless shelter in San Francisco and is continuing work with youth experiencing homelessness youth in Chicago. He is presently a PI or Co-PI on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Niranjan S. Karnik

Dale L. Smith PhD

  • Senior Data Scientist
Dr. Smith is a senior data scientist in the Psychiatry department’s Institute for Juvenile Research and Digital Mental Health program. His research focuses on statistical and machine learning applications in mental health and public health. This has included extensive collaborations in studies involving post-traumatic stress disorder, autism spectrum disorder, substance use disorders, and psychiatric outcomes in homeless youth and children with sleep disordered breathing. 

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Dale L. Smith

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Digital Heath

Niranjan S. Karnik MD, PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions
  • Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Karnik is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions, and Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He serves as Director of the Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His research focuses on data science, technology, and community-based interventions for vulnerable populations with psychiatric and substance use disorders. In the past, he has worked with refugee children on the Pakistan-Afghan border, street children in India, foster youth in Central Illinois, and incarcerated youth in California. He worked at a youth homeless shelter in San Francisco and is continuing work with youth experiencing homelessness youth in Chicago. He is presently a PI or Co-PI on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Niranjan S. Karnik

Dale L. Smith PhD

  • Senior Data Scientist
Dr. Smith is a senior data scientist in the Psychiatry department’s Institute for Juvenile Research and Digital Mental Health program. His research focuses on statistical and machine learning applications in mental health and public health. This has included extensive collaborations in studies involving post-traumatic stress disorder, autism spectrum disorder, substance use disorders, and psychiatric outcomes in homeless youth and children with sleep disordered breathing. 

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Dale L. Smith

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Epidemiology

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Lisa A. Razzano PhD, CPRP

  • Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  • Deputy Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research & Policy
  • Director of Graduate Studies, UIC College of Medicine
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Lisa A. Razzano, PhD, CPRP is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Deputy Director of the Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and Director for the James Scholar Program at the UIC College of Medicine. Dr. Razzano is recognized internationally for her funded research and workforce development programs focusing on mental health recovery, physical health co-morbidities, health literacy, mental health, and recovery among people with HIV/AIDS, and community intervention and services research.

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Lisa A. Razzano

Kathleen M. Rospenda PhD

  • Professor of Psychology
  • UIC Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Kathy Rospenda is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and an Adjunct Member of the Graduate Faculty in UIC’s School Public Health. From 2018-2022, she was the Director of the Targeted Research Training Program in the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Health and Safety. She is an affiliate of the UIC Center for Healthy Work, a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-funded Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health®. Dr. Rospenda’s research centers on occupational stressors and their impact on mental health, physical health, and drinking behavior. She is a leading researcher in the area of workplace harassment.

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Kathleen M. Rospenda

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Genetics

Edwin H. Cook Jr. MD

  • Earl M Bane Professor of Psychiatry
  • Associate Head, Clinical Services
  • Director, Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dr. Cook is the Director of Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the Associate Head of Clinical Services in the department. Dr. Cook is board certified in both Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He specializes in treating comorbid psychiatric disorders for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Cook is also the Earl M. Bane Professor of Psychiatry.

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Edwin Cook Jr

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Mani Pavuluri MD, PhD

  • Founding Director, Pediatric Mood Disorders Program
  • Professor in Psychiatry
Mani Pavuluri

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Health Access

Marc S. Atkins PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Atkins is a licensed clinical psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology and past Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He developed and led the internship in clinical psychology for the Department of Psychiatry for two decades and has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on career development awards and postdoctoral fellowships. He currently directs the Community Engagement and Collaboration core for UIC’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science. He is the recipient of numerous grants from the NIMH and private foundations examining new models for mental health practice in urban communities to address long-standing disparities in mental health care for children and families living in high poverty urban communities. He currently is Co-PI with Dr. Tara Mehta on a grant from the NIMH studying community health worker navigation into mental health services for urban children and families. He is active in public policy, including as a consultant to the Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois Division of Mental Health, and the Illinois State Board of Education on guidelines for school and community based mental health programs and practices, and to Chief Judge Timothy Evans of the Cook County Circuit Court on behavioral health programming for Restorative Justice Courts.

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Marc S. Atkins

Mary Bunn PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Co-Director, Global Mental Health Research and Training Program, Center for Global Health
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Psychiatry. She is also a core faculty member and Co-Director of the Global Mental Health Research and Training Program in the UIC Center for Global Health and a clinical faculty member in the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program where she provides therapy services to survivors of war, torture and forced migration.

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Mary Bunn

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Kyle J. Jennette PhD, MA

  • Clinical Neuropsychologist
  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Jennette is Clinical Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine. Dr. Jennette earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Flagler College, master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of South Florida, and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. He completed his Clinical Psychology Internship at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at UI Health.

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Kyle Jennette

Niranjan S. Karnik MD, PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions
  • Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Karnik is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions, and Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He serves as Director of the Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His research focuses on data science, technology, and community-based interventions for vulnerable populations with psychiatric and substance use disorders. In the past, he has worked with refugee children on the Pakistan-Afghan border, street children in India, foster youth in Central Illinois, and incarcerated youth in California. He worked at a youth homeless shelter in San Francisco and is continuing work with youth experiencing homelessness youth in Chicago. He is presently a PI or Co-PI on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Niranjan S. Karnik

Tara G. Mehta PhD

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology
  • Director of Psychology Training
Dr. Mehta is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of Psychology Training in the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois Chicago.  The central theme of Dr. Mehta’s work is to reduce the persistent disparities in access to mental health services for ethnic minority children and families. Dr. Mehta's work is based in an ecological public health model and she conducts community-based collaborative research focused on (1) developing culturally responsive, alternative models of mental health services for children and youth and (2) workforce development to enhance the capacity of community organizations to sustain accessible, effective services that enhance children’s and youth's well-being and promote mental health. Dr. Mehta is part of a team that has developed new mental health service models that promote children’s mental health and increase the accessibility, effectiveness, and sustainability of children’s mental health services.  Her specific interests include leveraging natural resources (teachers, staff) in settings critical to children’s development and mental health (school, after-school), activating paraprofessionals to promote and enhance services, and enhancing organizational factors that are crucial to maintain and sustain effective practices. Dr. Mehta has collaborated with multiple partners in Chicago, including the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, community mental health centers, and non-profit organizations.

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Tara Mehta

Alison K. Newman PhD, ABPP

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Surgery
Dr. Alison Newman is a clinical health psychologist. She graduated from University of Arizona after majoring in Psychology. She then moved to San Diego in 2006 where she began her graduate education in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. She completed an internship in Clinical Health Psychology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

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Alison K. Newman

Lisa A. Razzano PhD, CPRP

  • Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  • Deputy Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research & Policy
  • Director of Graduate Studies, UIC College of Medicine
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Lisa A. Razzano, PhD, CPRP is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Deputy Director of the Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and Director for the James Scholar Program at the UIC College of Medicine. Dr. Razzano is recognized internationally for her funded research and workforce development programs focusing on mental health recovery, physical health co-morbidities, health literacy, mental health, and recovery among people with HIV/AIDS, and community intervention and services research.

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Lisa A. Razzano

Kathleen M. Rospenda PhD

  • Professor of Psychology
  • UIC Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Kathy Rospenda is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and an Adjunct Member of the Graduate Faculty in UIC’s School Public Health. From 2018-2022, she was the Director of the Targeted Research Training Program in the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Health and Safety. She is an affiliate of the UIC Center for Healthy Work, a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-funded Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health®. Dr. Rospenda’s research centers on occupational stressors and their impact on mental health, physical health, and drinking behavior. She is a leading researcher in the area of workplace harassment.

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Kathleen M. Rospenda

Brittany N. Rudd PhD

  • Instructor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • Director, Implementation Science and System-Involved Youth Research and Policy Program
Dr. Brittany Rudd is a child psychologist as well as an Instructor of Psychiatry and Assistant Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She is the director of CAPACITY Lab—an interdisciplinary team of scientists who build Community Academic Partnerships to Accelerate Community Implementation of Treatments for Youth. The lab’s mission is to promote mental health equity through community-partnered research and implementation science. Key foci include the development and implementation of scalable mental health interventions (e.g., digital mental health services and brief interventions) and harnessing partnerships with community organizations (e.g., juvenile justice, family courts, schools, mental health agencies) to understand their service context and needs and support their ability to implement mental health interventions. In addition to leading CAPACITY Lab, Dr. Rudd directs the Child and Family Behavior Clinic in the UIC Psychiatry Department. There, she assesses and treats youth with externalizing disorders, as well as supervises externs, interns, and fellows.

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Brittany Rudd

Colleen Stiles-Shields PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Colleen Stiles-Shields is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her research is centered around harnessing digital mental health and telehealth as delivery mechanisms to reach and improve behavioral health targets for pediatric populations. Within this work, she specifically aims to design/adapt, evaluate, and disseminate technologies to better meet the needs of pediatric populations and their families, particularly those with socially complex needs (i.e., potentially overlapping experiences of adversities and minoritized identities).

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Colleen Stiles-Shields

Stevan M. Weine MD

  • Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  • Director of Global Medicine & Director of the Center for Global Health
Dr. Weine is Professor of Psychiatry at the UIC College of Medicine, where he also Director of Global Medicine and Director of the Center for Global Health. For 30 years he has been conducting research both with refugees and migrants in the U.S. and in post-conflict countries, focused on mental health, health, and violence prevention. His research mission is to develop, implement, and evaluate psychosocial interventions that are feasible, acceptable, and effective with respect to the complex real-life contexts where at-risk populations live. This work has been supported by multiple grants from the NIMH, NICHD, DHS, NIJ, and other state, federal, and private funders, all with collaboration from community partners.

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Weine Stevan

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - HIV

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Geri Donenberg PhD

  • Professor of Medicine and Psychology
  • Director, Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science
  • Director, Healthy Youths Program
  • Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases

Dr. Geri Donenberg received her Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Political Science at the University of Michigan and her Master of Arts and Doctoral Degree in clinical psychology from UCLA. She completed her psychology internship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, and was a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa.

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Geri Donenberg

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Eileen Martin PhD

  • Professor in Clinical Neuropsychology, Rush University

For more information, visit Dr. Martin's Rush University profile.

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Eileen Martin

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Mood Disorders

Olusola Ajilore MD, PhD

  • Associate Head for Faculty Development
  • University of Illinois Center for Depression and Resilience (UI CDR) Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
  • Director, Clinical Research Core/Center for Clinical and Translational Science
  • Director, Adult Neuroscience Residency Research Track
  • Co-Director, UICOM Medical Scientist Training Program
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois-Chicago
Dr. Ajilore's research goal is to understand the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder in the context of medical co-morbidities and late life using novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques. His group focuses on using structural and functional brain connectivity to study the brain as a network.

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Olusola Ajilore

Mary Bunn PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Co-Director, Global Mental Health Research and Training Program, Center for Global Health
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Psychiatry. She is also a core faculty member and Co-Director of the Global Mental Health Research and Training Program in the UIC Center for Global Health and a clinical faculty member in the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program where she provides therapy services to survivors of war, torture and forced migration.

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Mary Bunn

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Anand Kumar MD, MHA

  • Department Head
  • Lizzie Gilman Professor

Anand Kumar, M.D., is Lizzie Gilman Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Madras, India.

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Kumar Anand

Chunyu Liu PhD

  • Associate Professor

Dr. Liu has a long-term interest in understanding of molecular basis of psychiatric diseases. His laboratory participated in one of the bipolar genetics research consortiums and discovered the rare copy number variant (CNV) burden in early-onset bipolar disorder.

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Liu Chunyu

Jennifer Suor PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Jennifer Suor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Dr. Suor is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Illinois. Dr. Suor received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester, with emphasis in developmental psychopathology. Dr. Suor completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago.  

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Jennifer Suor

Sally Weinstein PhD

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Associate Director, University of Illinois Center on Depression and Resilience (UICDR)
  • Director, Psychosocial Training
  • Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Sally Weinstein, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist in the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic. Dr. Weinstein provides clinical evaluations and treatment for children and adolescents with mood disorders; facilitates the RAINBOW group therapy program for children with bipolar disorder and the Teen Girls Depression Group; and directs the psychosocial training of psychology interns and externs completing a clinical rotation in PMDC.

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Sally Weinstein

Amy West PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry
  • Director of Psychology Training

Dr. West’s research broadly focuses on the use of psychosocial interventions in the treatment of pediatric mood disorders.

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West Amy

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Neurochemistry/Molecular Biology

James Auta PhD, PharmD, MBA

  • Associate Professor

Associate Professor at UIC. Dr. Auta has extensive experience on the behavioral, molecular and neuropharmacology of GABAergic, glutamatergic and nicotinic receptors neurotransmission; and more recently, the neuropharmacology and pathology of the cerebellum during acute and chronic alcohol exposure.

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James Auta

Dennis R. Grayson PhD

  • Professor of Molecular Neuroscience
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Grayson is interested in epigenetic mechanisms associated with psychiatric disease. We study DNA methylation and other repressive epigenetic marks. In addition, we are currently investigating abnormal patterns of gene expression following chronic alcohol use and withdrawal. The overall goals are to identify new drug targets in each paradigm to establish new therapeutic approaches for treatment. He graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Biochemistry and obtained the PhD in Biochemistry from Wayne State School of Medicine.

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Dennis R. Grayson

Lech Kiedrowski PhD

  • Research Associate Professor

Dr. Kiedrowski’s long-term objective is to conduct studies aimed at further understanding the mechanisms of neuronal dysfunction or death during neuropsychiatric diseases and stroke, and to identify novel targets for pharmacological intervention to treat these diseases. Currently, Dr.

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Chunyu Liu PhD

  • Associate Professor

Dr. Liu has a long-term interest in understanding of molecular basis of psychiatric diseases. His laboratory participated in one of the bipolar genetics research consortiums and discovered the rare copy number variant (CNV) burden in early-onset bipolar disorder.

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Liu Chunyu

Subhash C. Pandey PhD

  • Joseph A. Flaherty MD, Endowed Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics
  • Professor of Biochemistry in Psychiatry
  • Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology
  • Director, Neuroscience Alcoholism Research
  • Senior VA Career Research Scientist
  • Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Subhash Pandey is a nationally and internationally well-known neuroscientist in the alcohol addiction field and has contributed significantly towards a better understanding of the neurobiology of alcoholism. Two striking features of alcohol addiction are the rapid onset of tolerance to the acute effects of alcohol and the development of ethanol withdrawal symptoms after cessation of protracted ethanol consumption.

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Subash C. Pandey

Graziano Pinna PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine
Graziano Pinna, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UIC. He earned his undergraduate degree and a Laurea of Doctor at University of Cagliari (Italy) and obtained a PhD in Neuroendocrinology at the Free University of Berlin (Berlin, Germany) before being appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, UIC. Dr. Pinna focuses his research on PTSD, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and their comorbidities using a translational approach. His work spans metabolomics and molecular biology studies of the neurosteroid and endocannabinoid systems in animal models of stress-induced PTSD and depression, and of chronic intermittent alcohol exposure and withdrawal. Bridging preclinical with clinical studies, his studies on neurobiological mechanisms underlying PTSD and AUD aim to suggest novel therapeutic targets, through a biomarker-driven precision medicine approach.

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Graziano Pinna

Mark Rasenick PhD

  • Distinguished Professor of Physiology & Biophysics and Psychiatry
  • Director, Biomedical Neuroscience Training Program
  • Research Career Scientist, Jesse Brown VAMC
  • University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine

Dr. Rasenick’s work has focused on G protein signaling in the nervous system and the relationship of neurotransmitter activation to rapid modification of the cytoskeleton.  He has been particularly interested in how G proteins and the cytoskeleton work in concert to modify synaptic shape and to form a molecular basis for depression and the action of antidepressant drugs.

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Mark Rasenick

Rajiv P. Sharma MD

  • Research Professor of Psychiatry, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Neuroscience
  • Director of the Psychosis Program
Dr. Rajiv P. Sharma is a Research Professor of Psychiatry. Over the past 30 years, he has examined multiple aspects of the schizophrenia illness, including clinical presentations, biochemical studies (hormones, immune molecules, monoamine metabolites, neuropeptides), as well as molecular studies in living subjects, postmortem brain samples, and cell studies. His research is funded by NIH. He is currently focusing on the dissection of epigenetic gene regulation in schizophrenia, pertaining to immune function, cognition, treatment response.

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Rajiv Sharma

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Neuroimaging

Olusola Ajilore MD, PhD

  • Associate Head for Faculty Development
  • University of Illinois Center for Depression and Resilience (UI CDR) Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program
  • Director, Clinical Research Core/Center for Clinical and Translational Science
  • Director, Adult Neuroscience Residency Research Track
  • Co-Director, UICOM Medical Scientist Training Program
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois-Chicago
Dr. Ajilore's research goal is to understand the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder in the context of medical co-morbidities and late life using novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques. His group focuses on using structural and functional brain connectivity to study the brain as a network.

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Olusola Ajilore

Natania Crane PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. Crane is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of Substance Use Disorders, especially Cannabis Use Disorder. An important aspect of her research is studying the relationship between clinical mental health factors and substance use, particularly between depression and cannabis use. Dr. Crane received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, completed her Clinical Internship and T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIC, with an emphasis in Neuropsychology. She has received Early Career Travel Awards from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychological Foundation, as well as a K23 Early Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Natania Craine

Ellen S. Herbener PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology
Dr. Ellen Herbener received her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago, and her Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. She completed a psychology internship at Cambridge Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is a licensed clinical psychologist.

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Ellen S. Herbener

Kyle J. Jennette PhD, MA

  • Clinical Neuropsychologist
  • Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Jennette is Clinical Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine. Dr. Jennette earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Flagler College, master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of South Florida, and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. He completed his Clinical Psychology Internship at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at UI Health.

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Kyle Jennette

Heide Klumpp PhD

  • Associate Professor
Dr. Klumpp takes a neuroscience approach to understand internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression for clinical translation. To this end, she uses electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging to delineate brain-based markers of clinical behavior and treatment outcome. She also uses sleep measures (e.g., actigraphy) to understand the intersection of sleep and internalizing disorders.

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Anand Kumar MD, MHA

  • Department Head
  • Lizzie Gilman Professor

Anand Kumar, M.D., is Lizzie Gilman Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Madras, India.

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Kumar Anand

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Mani Pavuluri MD, PhD

  • Founding Director, Pediatric Mood Disorders Program
  • Professor in Psychiatry
Mani Pavuluri

Neil H. Pliskin PhD

  • Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Director, Neurobehavior Program
  • Director, Neuropsychology Service
Dr. Pliskin is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology with years of experience working as a neuropsychologist and directing Neuropsychology training programs. He has a special interest in the neuropsychological sequelae of medical illness. Dr. Pliskin has published in the areas of renal disease, multiple sclerosis, and dementia and is a nationally recognized expert in the area of electrical shock injuries.

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Neil Pliskin

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Psychopharmacology

Emma Childs PhD

  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Emma Childs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Director of The Human Addiction Psychopharmacology laboratory. Dr Childs’ research is dedicated to improving our understanding of addictive disorders. One of her primary areas of interest is studying how powerful associations are formed between abused drugs and cues (i.e., the people, places and paraphernalia) surrounding drug use.

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Emma Childs

Edwin H. Cook Jr. MD

  • Earl M Bane Professor of Psychiatry
  • Associate Head, Clinical Services
  • Director, Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dr. Cook is the Director of Program for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the Associate Head of Clinical Services in the department. Dr. Cook is board certified in both Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He specializes in treating comorbid psychiatric disorders for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Cook is also the Earl M. Bane Professor of Psychiatry.

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Edwin Cook Jr

Natania Crane PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. Crane is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the UIC Recovery Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research utilizes multiple methods (i.e., fMRI, EEG, cognitive, clinical, and self-report measures) to examine the brain and behavioral risk factors and consequences of Substance Use Disorders, especially Cannabis Use Disorder. An important aspect of her research is studying the relationship between clinical mental health factors and substance use, particularly between depression and cannabis use. Dr. Crane received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, completed her Clinical Internship and T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIC, with an emphasis in Neuropsychology. She has received Early Career Travel Awards from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Psychological Foundation, as well as a K23 Early Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Natania Craine

John Davis MD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Research Professor of Medicine

Dr. Davis been involved in depression research since the early formulations of the biogenic amine hypothesis of depression in 1965 in collaboration with Bunney. He was one of the first few researchers in psychopharmacology, and wrote one of the earliest texts in collaboration with Don Klein.

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Davis John

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Katherine McMurray PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC
Dr. McMurray’s research interests focus on understanding the neurobiology of comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders, such as alcohol use disorders, panic disorder, and PTSD, with the goal of more effectively treating and diagnosing these disorders. Dr. McMurray received a BA in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then completed her doctoral work with Dr. Abraham Palmer at the University of Chicago where she investigated the role of the gene Glo1 in models of alcohol use disorders, anxiety, and depression, and evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of targeting GLO1 using small molecule inhibitors. Dr. McMurray then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Renu Sah at the University of Cincinnati where she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship from NIMH to investigate neurocircuitry underlying panic and PTSD vulnerability.

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Katherine McMurray

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Psychosis/Schizophrenia

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Dennis R. Grayson PhD

  • Professor of Molecular Neuroscience
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Grayson is interested in epigenetic mechanisms associated with psychiatric disease. We study DNA methylation and other repressive epigenetic marks. In addition, we are currently investigating abnormal patterns of gene expression following chronic alcohol use and withdrawal. The overall goals are to identify new drug targets in each paradigm to establish new therapeutic approaches for treatment. He graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Biochemistry and obtained the PhD in Biochemistry from Wayne State School of Medicine.

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Dennis R. Grayson

Victoria Gotay MD

  • Attending Psychiatrist at JBVAMC
  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UIC-COM
Dr. Victoria Gotay is a psychiatrist in Chicago, Illinois and is affiliated with Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She received her medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine. She assists with the psychiatry portion of the medical student curriculum and is the advising attending for psychiatry residents and students rotating through the Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) program at the Jesse Brown VA.

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Victoria Gotay

Ellen S. Herbener PhD

  • Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology
Dr. Ellen Herbener received her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago, and her Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. She completed a psychology internship at Cambridge Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is a licensed clinical psychologist.

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Ellen S. Herbener

Rajiv P. Sharma MD

  • Research Professor of Psychiatry, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Neuroscience
  • Director of the Psychosis Program
Dr. Rajiv P. Sharma is a Research Professor of Psychiatry. Over the past 30 years, he has examined multiple aspects of the schizophrenia illness, including clinical presentations, biochemical studies (hormones, immune molecules, monoamine metabolites, neuropeptides), as well as molecular studies in living subjects, postmortem brain samples, and cell studies. His research is funded by NIH. He is currently focusing on the dissection of epigenetic gene regulation in schizophrenia, pertaining to immune function, cognition, treatment response.

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Rajiv Sharma

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Psychotherapy

Jaleel K. Abdul-Adil PhD

  • Co-Director of the Urban Youth Trauma Center
  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry
Dr. Abdul-Adil's career interest is culturally-sensitive, ecologically-appropriate, and evidence-based practices for low-income urban youth and families. His current research focuses on family-focused interventions for youth with trauma and co-occurring disruptive behavior and community violence exposure that are provided through university-community partnerships, service system collaborations, and national provider networks. Dr. Abdul-Adil is also one of the originators and nationally-renowned experts on the use of modern Rap music and Hip-Hop culture to enrich psychosocial interventions for urban youth.

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Jaleel K. Abdul-Adil

Heide Klumpp PhD

  • Associate Professor
Dr. Klumpp takes a neuroscience approach to understand internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression for clinical translation. To this end, she uses electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging to delineate brain-based markers of clinical behavior and treatment outcome. She also uses sleep measures (e.g., actigraphy) to understand the intersection of sleep and internalizing disorders.

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Natalie R. Stevens PhD

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC

Dr. Natalie Stevens is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She completed her pre-doctoral internship in Adult Health Psychology and a postdoctoral fellowship in Women’s Health and Trauma Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center. Dr.

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Natalie R. Stevens

Jennifer Suor PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Jennifer Suor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Dr. Suor is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Illinois. Dr. Suor received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester, with emphasis in developmental psychopathology. Dr. Suor completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago.  

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Jennifer Suor

Sally Weinstein PhD

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Associate Director, University of Illinois Center on Depression and Resilience (UICDR)
  • Director, Psychosocial Training
  • Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Sally Weinstein, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist in the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic. Dr. Weinstein provides clinical evaluations and treatment for children and adolescents with mood disorders; facilitates the RAINBOW group therapy program for children with bipolar disorder and the Teen Girls Depression Group; and directs the psychosocial training of psychology interns and externs completing a clinical rotation in PMDC.

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Sally Weinstein

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Recovery

Judith A. Cook PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry
  • Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy
Dr. Cook is an internationally recognized authority on mental health services research, specifically the study of clinical and rehabilitation outcomes of children and adults receiving community-based care. She directs a federally funded research center along with numerous grants and contracts focused on intervention science, psychiatric epidemiology, and outcomes research. She designs and implements innovative programs to enhance the health and behavioral health of vulnerable populations. She works with federal, state and local authorities on behavioral health service system redesign and alternative financing strategies.

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Judith Cook

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Trauma

Jaleel K. Abdul-Adil PhD

  • Co-Director of the Urban Youth Trauma Center
  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry
Dr. Abdul-Adil's career interest is culturally-sensitive, ecologically-appropriate, and evidence-based practices for low-income urban youth and families. His current research focuses on family-focused interventions for youth with trauma and co-occurring disruptive behavior and community violence exposure that are provided through university-community partnerships, service system collaborations, and national provider networks. Dr. Abdul-Adil is also one of the originators and nationally-renowned experts on the use of modern Rap music and Hip-Hop culture to enrich psychosocial interventions for urban youth.

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Jaleel K. Abdul-Adil

Mary Bunn PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • Co-Director, Global Mental Health Research and Training Program, Center for Global Health
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Psychiatry. She is also a core faculty member and Co-Director of the Global Mental Health Research and Training Program in the UIC Center for Global Health and a clinical faculty member in the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program where she provides therapy services to survivors of war, torture and forced migration.

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Mary Bunn

Niranjan S. Karnik MD, PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Director, Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions
  • Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI
  • University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Karnik is Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of Institute for Research on Addictions, and Interim Director of AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using ML/AI at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He serves as Director of the Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His research focuses on data science, technology, and community-based interventions for vulnerable populations with psychiatric and substance use disorders. In the past, he has worked with refugee children on the Pakistan-Afghan border, street children in India, foster youth in Central Illinois, and incarcerated youth in California. He worked at a youth homeless shelter in San Francisco and is continuing work with youth experiencing homelessness youth in Chicago. He is presently a PI or Co-PI on grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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Niranjan S. Karnik

Natalie R. Stevens PhD

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC

Dr. Natalie Stevens is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She completed her pre-doctoral internship in Adult Health Psychology and a postdoctoral fellowship in Women’s Health and Trauma Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center. Dr.

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Natalie R. Stevens

Liza M. Suarez PhD

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
  • Director, Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic
  • Co-Director, Urban Youth Trauma Center
Dr. Suarez’ interests focus on adolescent traumatic stress and substance abuse, treatment for anxiety disorders among urban youth, and empowering communities to address community violence and its impact on youth and families. Dr. Suarez has developed and is currently evaluating and disseminating an integrated intervention targeting traumatic stress and substance abuse problems in adolescents.

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Liza Suarez

Jennifer Suor PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
  • Institute for Juvenile Research
  • Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Jennifer Suor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Dr. Suor is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Illinois. Dr. Suor received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester, with emphasis in developmental psychopathology. Dr. Suor completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois – Chicago.  

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Jennifer Suor

Principal Investigators by Area of Interest - Women's Mental Health

Pauline Maki PhD

  • Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Director of Women’s Mental Health Research Program
  • Senior Director of Research, Center for Research on Women and Gender
For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle. In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

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Pauline Maki

Tory Eisenlohr-Moul PhD

  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Associate Director of Translational Research in Women’s Mental Health
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine
Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UIC, and holds an additional courtesy appointment in the Department of Psychology. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized fellowship training in the pathophysiology, assessment, and treatment of hormone-related psychiatric disorders-- particularly premenstrual disorders.

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Tory Eisenlohr-Moul

Natalie R. Stevens PhD

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor
  • Department of Psychiatry, UIC

Dr. Natalie Stevens is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). She completed her pre-doctoral internship in Adult Health Psychology and a postdoctoral fellowship in Women’s Health and Trauma Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center. Dr.

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Natalie R. Stevens