Specific Training Opportunities

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Specific Training Opportunities

Below are various training opportunities available to our interns. Regardless of whether you are applying for the Adult or Child track, interns may combine training experiences from any of the clinical and research rotations below. This list is not exhaustive, as past interns have frequently incorporated training experiences with other affiliated faculty members (see Our Faculty) and within other research centers in our department.

Please note that there are multiple opportunities to provide services, and receive supervision, in Spanish. These experiences include intervention, assessment, and advocacy with children, families, and adults. 

The ACCESS for Mental Health team (Advancing Community Capacity to Empower Service Systems for Mental Health) is focused on alleviating disparities in access to mental health services for children and families, with a focus on vulnerable populations (e.g., urban poverty, ethnic/racial minorities, social determinants of health). We aim to develop culturally responsive, alternative models of mental health services for children and youth, with a focus on workforce development to enhance the capacity of community organizations to promote children’s and youth's well-being and mental health. This work leverages natural resources (parents, teachers, staff, paraprofessionals) to take advantage of teachable moments in settings critical to children’s development and mental health (home, school, after-school). 

Currently, the team is collaborating with several community organizations to enhance their ability to support their staff and the participating youth’s well-being through recreation. 

Current collaborations

Roles for Interns: 

  • Participation in community meetings 
  • Consultation with community partners and ongoing evaluation
  • Gain experience and exposure to the role of a recreation workforce in promoting children’s mental health
  • Learn about the role paraprofessionals play in enhancing and promoting children’s mental health
  • Grant and manuscript preparation
  • Secondary data analysis 
     
Supervisor(s)

The University of Illinois Chicago Internship is currently offering a rotation to offer clinical experience with children, adolescents, families, and emerging adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related behavioral problems. The rotation is comprised of experiences in the SUCCEEDS Clinic (directed by Dr. Michael Meinzer; https://www.uicadhd.org/succeeds) and the Comprehensive Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Clinic (directed by Dr. Christine Lee; https://www.psych.uic.edu/clinical/child-and-adolescent-services/comprehensive-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-clinic). Drs. Lee and Meinzer are licensed clinical psychologists and will provide supervision. Interns will have the opportunity to engage in a range of assessment and intervention opportunities: 

  • Complete diagnostic evaluations for children, adolescents, and young adults with ADHD and related behavior problems
  • Implement behavioral parent training with families, including caregivers 
  • Opportunities to observe and participate in cognitive and academic testing for children and adolescents
  • Implement organizational skills training, behavioral activation, and motivational interviewing with young adults with ADHD 

Interns can work together or separately with Drs. Lee and Meinzer.

The Bariatric Health Psychology rotation offers training in a variety of behavioral health roles in bariatric surgery. Interns will be part of a multidisciplinary team with a predominantly low income and ethnically diverse patient population.

Training opportunities include:

Clinical:

  1. Conduct pre-bariatric surgery psychological evaluations to assess patient readiness for and understanding of bariatric surgery. This experience will include specialized training in the assessment of disordered eating with this population.
  2. Complete follow-up appointments with pre-operative patients to address issues impeding surgical readiness. These appointments may be brief (1-2 sessions) or ongoing.
  3. Co-lead bariatric surgery support groups, available.
  4. Provide health behavior interventions to post-operative patients, as available. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement, and mindfulness are utilized. 
  5. Attend monthly multidisciplinary bariatric surgery team meetings.
  6. This training opportunity occurs virtually via telehealth and in person in the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI). 

Didactics:

  1. Didactic opportunities include weekly Psychiatry grand rounds and Neuropsychology lectures.

*Modification to the above activities may occur due to the current COVID-19 pandemic”

Overview
In this rotation, interns will spend 1 half-day a week shadowing family medicine residents during primary care clinics. Interns shadow one resident physician a week, going into the exam room to observe the medical interview and non-sensitive exams. Some patient visits may be through telehealth, or through video conferencing lines within the clinic. The intern will provide feedback to the resident on behavioral medicine skills according to the resident’s curriculum year. The intern may also provide brief interventions with patients to model appropriate skills or as requested by the physician. This rotation provides experience in teaching and supervision, as well as development of clinical skills such as motivational interviewing and other brief interventions.

Interns will learn:

  • How to precept (supervise) family medicine physician residents
  • How to teach core skills, including agenda setting, structuring the medical interview, asking sensitive questions, the BATHE technique, SBIRT, Motivational Interviewing, patient-centered physical exams
  • How to teach about appropriate diagnosis and treatment for a variety of mental and behavioral health conditions
  • Communication skills for busy primary care setting
  • How to incorporate medical culture and psych culture for better integrated care
  • Barriers to evidence-based practice
CAPACITY Lab

Our mission is to promote mental health by harnessing community-partnered research and implementation science to build mental health service capacity within the community organizations that serve vulnerable youth. Learn more about our lab on our website. Prospective interns can mix and match clinical and clinical/implementation research experiences. We offer 6 and 12-month rotations as well as 20-40% effort rotations (e.g., spending one day a week in the clinic/lab = 20%; spending one day a week in each = 40%). This rotation is ideal for interns interested in working with parents who have young children with ODD or ADHD and/or are interested in learning about community-based research focused on health equity, justice reform, implementation science, as well as qualitative and mixed methods research.

Family and Child Clinic (Family Clinic) Rotation (Tuesdays).

  • Traditional Psychotherapy: The family clinictreats disruptive behavior disorders and ADHD symptoms using parent management training and family interventions.
  • New Evaluation and Brief Consultation Pilot: A large demand for services nationwide along with a shortage of mental health providers has led to long waitlists for children and families. The traditional model of evaluation and a full course of therapy for each family may need to be supplemented with other types of services to move the needle on children's mental health. In the fall of 2022, the family clinic began piloting a new model of care. The goal of this pilot is to preliminarily evaluate if providing families with a comprehensive mental health evaluation, recommendations for treatment (including school recommendations and providing letters in support of a 504 plan or IEP), and brief consultation regarding their primary concern for treatment is feasible and provides relief for families on the waitlist. We will be conducting a program evaluation of this model while we execute.
  • There is some flexibility to balance psychotherapy versus consults. A typical intern schedule is 3 psychotherapy sessions per week (note that chances are 1-2 will no show per week), two evaluations for the eval and brief consultation pilot per month, and 1 hour of weekly supervision (i.e., up to 5 hours of scheduled F2F clinical work a week, 1 hour of supervision, and 2 hours of prep/documentation time). Previous experience with parent management training is not required – support is scaffolded per previous experience (interns without parent management training experience may start by conducting co-therapy and transition to independence by the end of the rotation; interns with previous experience may immediately start seeing patients independently).

CAPACITY Lab Research Rotation (Wednesdays).
Ongoing research projects:
Development and Evaluation of the Family Law Navigation Model (Indiana Supreme Court Funding; PI: Rudd). Parental divorce and separation are common adverse childhood experiences linked to psychosocial problems. Partnering with family law stakeholders, who serve these families as they develop co-parenting and child support arrangements, is an opportunity to identify these families and connect them to appropriate care. The goal of the current study is to develop an empirically informed, contextually tailored method of screening parents seeking family law services for need and connecting them to appropriate care and preliminarily evaluate it. We have partnered with a family law judge in Floyd County Indiana to engage in this work. This project has three aims:
Aim 1. Using qualitative methods, evaluate the current context for Floyd County family law cases to understand: (a) current legal pathways for family law cases, (b) how decisions are made about these pathways, and (c) the opportunities to pragmatically integrate a comprehensive triaging model (data collection for this Aim is complete).
Aim 2. Using results from Aim 1 and the Evidence-Based Quality Improvement process, which is a community-partnered approach to shared decision-making, (a) finalize the Floyd County family law triaging model and (b) select and operationalize implementation strategies (these taskforce meetings are ongoing and are held on the first and third Thursday of the month at 11am).
Aim 3: Evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the Family Law Navigation Model in three counties in Indiana (we hope to launch this fall).

Roles for interns:

  • Analyzing qualitative results and coauthoring papers
  • Joining the EBQI meetings and helping to develop the model
  • Supporting Aim 3 execution including supporting the family law navigator (i.e., providing supervision)

Promoting Parallel Parenting: Putting Children First during High-Conflict Divorce and Separation (PCF; NICHD; MPI: Rudd). High levels of interparental conflict after parents divorce/separate put their children at risk for developing psychopathology. This study will take a user-centered design approach to developing an online parent education program that targets inter-parental conflict that is designed with implementation in courts in mind. This grant is pending but funding by September 30th is promising. Aim 1 of this grant is conducting qualitative interviews with legal stakeholders to ensure the intervention is designed with implementation in mind.

Roles for interns:

  • Analyzing qualitative results and coauthoring papers
  • Helping to design the online parent intervention modules

Suicide Prevention in Juvenile Detention
Our lab has led several qualitative and mixed methods studies related to suicide prevention in juvenile detention. There are opportunities to get involved in analyzing those data and coauthoring papers.

Optimizing the Zero Suicide Prevention Model for Juvenile Detention
This study is funded by an NIMH K23. This is a community-based participatory research study with the ultimate goal of improving mental health equity among youth in the juvenile-legal system by targeting suicide prevention among Black youth in juvenile detention. This study has three aims over 5 years. We are in year one. The first aim is to understand formerly-detained, Black young adults' lived experiences with suicidality during detainment. This aim will harness qualitative data – likely semi-structured interviews (data collection to start in early 2024). The second aim is to optimize the Zero Suicide Model for juvenile detention contexts using the data from Aim 1 and a Community Advisory Board of juvenile-legal stakeholders and consumers (this aim will start in 2025, following completion of aim 1). The third aim is to pilot the Zero Suicide Model for juvenile detention in two detention centers in the Chicago area (this aim to start in 2026, following completion of aim 3). All of this work with be conducted in partnership with an advisory board of Black young adults with lived experiences with suicidality and juvenile detention. We are currently working to build infrastructure to develop and support our advisory board so they can advise us on aim 1 before its launch in early 2024. We are also at the very beginning phases of conducting literature review to support finalizing our aim 1 interview guide/research method. For example, we are reviewing literature regrading suicidality among Black youth and considering conducting a systematic review/meta-analysis in this area.

Opportunities

  • Help to support the advisory board
  • Help with literature review/systematic review should we decide to go that route
  • Qualitative analysis (either through rapid analysis or traditional methodologies) of semi-structured interview data gathered in Aim 1. Interview guide not finalized so there are still opportunities to inform the interview. 
Supervisor(s)

PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
IN HIV/AIDS, DRUG USE PREVENTION, AND IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE FOR YOUTH, ADULTS, AND FAMILIES

Program Summary

The Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science in Health Disparities (CDIS) and the Healthy Youths Program (HYP) are involved in basic and applied research. The primary focus areas and populations studied in the Center include, but are not limited to, community empowerment, mental health, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, mHealth, mindfulness, substance use, aging, veterans, intimate partner violence, and urban and global health.

General Intern Opportunities

Works-in-progress (WIPS) are seminars where faculty, staff, students, and others interested in dissemination and implementation-related research can share their work, receive feedback about ideas, and explore potential partnerships. Presentations occur on the first Monday of the month from 12-1:00pm.

Consultations are seminars where faculty, staff, students, and others interested in dissemination and implementation-related research can share their work, receive feedback about ideas, and explore potential partnerships. Presentations occur on the first Monday of the month from 12-1:00pm.

Professional Development Group is a space for students, postdocs, junior faculty, and researchers in training to discuss issues related to professional growth and development. It meets on the third Monday of the month from 11-12:00pm.

Colloquia are held 3-4 times a year and feature an invited presenter who is an expert in the field of dissemination and implementation and/or is carrying out work within one of the CDIS’s content areas.

Grant Writing opportunities exist throughout the year, both for individual and center grants.

Current ongoing data collection and study implementation opportunities

Cannabis, Opioids and Benzodiazepines Use by Older Veterans in Illinois
Supervisor: Julie Bobitt, PhD
        Veterans often struggle with disabling conditions, such as chronic pain and PTSD, that tend to worsen as they age. Common treatments for these conditions include the use of opioids and benzodiazepines, yet these medications tend to have unwanted side effects and can even result in addiction. Meanwhile cannabis use in the US has increased significantly over the past decade and a growing number of research studies have highlighted the benefits derived from taking cannabis for medical purposes. Previous studies with older adults have found that individuals are reportedly using cannabis to replace or reduce reliance on opioids and benzodiazepines, however, no research has looked at cannabis relative to opioids and benzodiazepine use in older Veterans. The goal of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of cannabis use in older Veterans who are using it as a substitute or complement for opioids and/or benzodiazepines. Using data collected from older Veterans enrolled in the Illinois Medical Cannabis Program we will identify individual level variables and compare self-reported outcomes associated with using cannabis as a complement or substitute for opioids and/or benzodiazepines. We will also conduct 30 interviews with a sub-set of Veterans who respond to our surveys to discuss cannabis use as a complement or substitute for opioids and/or benzodiazepines.

IDPH Medical Cannabis and Older Persons Survey and Opioid Alternative Pilot Program
Supervisor: Julie Bobitt, PhD
        Data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed past-year cannabis use climbed from nearly 3% in 2003 to just over 9% by 2014 in adults age 50-64 and from .2% – 2.1%—a tenfold increase—in adults over age 65. While the number of older adults who use cannabis has been increasing, little is known about the reasons why older adults use cannabis and the outcomes for when they do. We sent surveys to the 16,000+ individuals age 60 and older enrolled in the Illinois Medical Cannabis program to learn about what motivates cannabis use (i.e. chronic pain), describe how cannabis is used, and identify both positive and negative outcomes of cannabis use (i.e. ability to stay active or increased falls risk).

Wits Wellness Program Evaluation
Supervisor: Julie Bobitt, PhD
        Research has shown that lifestyle changes such as participating in regular physical activity, staying socially engaged, and managing stress and diet make a positive difference that can delay or reduce cognitive decline. Wits Wellness is a holistic, 12-session (60-minute per session), multi-modal workshop series that offers adults ages 50 and older facilitated, interactive dialogue and activities about healthy behaviors that promote health including, stress management, the importance of physical activity, healthy diet, good sleep, and socialization. We will deliver Wits Wellness to 240 participants in locations throughout Illinois, and conduct a mixed-method evaluation of Wits Wellness using a two-arm randomized controlled trial to determine the feasibility and acceptability of Wits Wellness and examine the preliminary efficacy of Wits Wellness on changes in cognitive function, self-efficacy, socialization, sleep, stress and physical activity levels at 3 and 6 months.

SYNC (PHAT Life Plus) Technology-based Training Tool for an Empirically Supported Group-Based HIV and STI Prevention Intervention for Juvenile Offenders
Supervisors: Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, PhD, Erin Emerson, MA, Jodie Bargeron, PhD
       Preventing HIV Among Teens (PHAT) Life, recently rebranded SYNC, is an evidence-based program that meets the need in juvenile justice to address youths’ co-morbid health problems. This project is a private/public collaboration between Oregon Research Behavioral Intervention Strategies and UIC to create a commercially viable technology-based training tool for SYNC that includes: (a) an interactive multimedia web browser and mobile application, (b) dynamic multimedia presentations and interactive queries, (c) video examples of mock intervention delivery, (d) audio narration along with scripted language, (e) brief quizzes to ensure comprehension and knowledge acquisition, (f) opportunities to “learn more” by clicking on tabs for supplemental information, (g) targeted referrals to appendix materials, and (h) games to promote engagement. Currently, we are evaluating the tool in a 2-arm RCT with individuals who work with youth to understand implementation outcomes, including cost, feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.

Mi QUIT CARE (Mile Square QUIT Community-Access-Referral-Expansion
Supervisor: Geri Donenberg, PhD, Phoenix Matthews, PhD, Brittany Harris-Vilona, Erin Emerson, MA, Caleb Gumbs, PhD
        This implementation trial is evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of using the MyChart patient portal to link patients in care at a Federally Qualified Health Center, Mile Square, to evidence-based smoking cessation treatment delivered by the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. Patients are randomized to provider messages (Quit-only, Choice to quit or cut down, Information-only) and offer to facilitate referral (no offer, yes offer). Qualitative interviews will supplement source data from the EPIC system. Intern Opportunities: Assist with data collection and write papers.

Project AIM (Action In Mindfulness): Adapting and Implementing a Meditation App for Justice-Involved Youth Placed on Probation
Supervisor: Ashley Kendall, PhD
        Young people placed in the justice system experience important health disparities compared with non-justice-involved peers. Meditation may promote mental and physical health, and can be delivered by smartphone app, reaching youth in their daily lives. In the K99 phase of this NIDA-funded K99/R00 study, we partnered with justice-involved youth and a range of community stakeholders–including a Youth Advisory Board, meditation experts, juvenile justice officers, and professional app programmers–to guide the adaptation and implementation of a meditation app for use by youth placed on probation. In the R00 phase, currently underway, we are conducting a longitudinal randomized controlled trial with youth currently placed on probation in the Chicago area to evaluate both clinical and implementation outcomes associated with the adapted meditation app.

Feasibility Trial of a Mindfulness-based mHealth Intervention to Mitigate the Effects of Chronic Workplace Stress among Juvenile Justice Officers
Supervisor: Ashley Kendall, PhD
        Juvenile justice officers (JJOs) face high chronic workplace stress. This stress is implicated in a constellation of adverse outcomes underpinned by emotion dysregulation: depression, anxiety, and workplace burnout. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) target emotion dysregulation and show reductions in depression, anxiety, and burnout. Mobile health (mHealth) technology can be harnessed to deliver and tailor MBI content to JJOs during their workdays, presenting a platform that is both scalable on the macro level and responsive to the variability in each JJO’s schedule on the micro level. For the present NCCIH-funded R34 study, our team is adapting an existing MBI app, Bodhi, according to empirically-supported adaptation targets and conducting a feasibility clinical trial in the Chicago Cook County juvenile justice system.

Evidence-based sexual and reproductive health intervention using a multiphase optimization strategy
Supervisor: Kate Merrill, PhD
        Latina teens in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other adverse consequences of risky sexual behavior. The home environment is recognized to shape teens’ health outcomes, but only one Latina mother-daughter sexual health program was identified in the literature. IMARA (Informed, Motivated, Aware, and Responsible Adolescents and Adults) is an evidence-based intervention for African American teen girls and their mothers, which is well-suited to be adapted for Latinas. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Chicago, the program reduced the risk of new STIs by 45% compared to the control group among 14-18-year-olds. In the first phase of this study, we adapted IMARA for Latina teens (14-18 years old) and their female caregivers (e.g., mothers, aunts, grandmothers). We are now piloting an optimization trial of the adapted intervention, called Floreciendo, using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST). MOST is a methodological framework for developing an optimal intervention package by assessing the effectiveness of an intervention’s components prior to subjecting the intervention to an RCT. This study focuses on the preparation phase of MOST and draws on an implementation science approach. All activities are being carried out in partnership with community-based organizations in the Chicagoland area using community-based participatory research (CBPR). Findings will form the basis for a fully-powered optimization trial to test intervention component impacts on risky sexual behavior among Latina teens. The long-term goal is to generate an efficient, sustainable adapted intervention with potential for scale-up with CBOs serving Latinas. Funding is from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Keeping it LITE 2: Exploring HIV Risk in Vulnerable Sexual and Gender Minority Youth with Limited Interaction and Digital Health Intervention (LITE-2)

Supervisors: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Audrey French, MD, Meena Malhotra, MA

This project will engage and retain young SGM in an innovative longitudinal cohort, enroll them in a dynamic established digital health retention platform (HMP; HealthMPowerment), monitor HIV risk and prevention behaviors and explore the socioecological factors that influence the use of new HIV prevention technologies (UG3 phase), while also allowing targeted testing of novel digital health interventions (UH3 phase). We will also test the efficacy of expanding the core version of HMP (HMP Basic) by adding adherence tools (HMP Enhanced) for those who are on PrEP or ART to improve adherence and persistence. In Aim 1, we will enroll and retain a large (n=5000), diverse cohort of sexually active, SGM adolescents and young adults, ages 13-34, using innovative digital recruitment, engagement and retention strategies. Over the course of the study, we will longitudinally characterize the sexual behavior, HIV transmission risk, and PrEP uptake trajectories of SGM youth utilizing epidemiological trajectory analyses to identify the most effective points of intervention (Aim 2). For Aim 3, we will launch a randomized clinical trial to examine the efficacy of HMP Enhanced to improve PrEP adherence among HIV-negative youth (n ≥750) and ART adherence among HIV-positive youth (n ≥150) compared to HMP Basic. Finally, we will maximize the productivity of the cohort by testing new and innovative digital health devices, HIV/STI diagnostics and interventions, informed by the previous aims as well as emerging NIH prevention priorities (Aim 4). Opportunities for psychology interns: participant retention activities, data analysis and manuscript preparation.

 

A Phase II randomized, observer-blind, placebo-controlled study, to assess efficacy of meningococcal Group B vaccine rMenB+OMV NZ (Bexsero) in preventing gonococcal infection

Supervisors: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Audrey French, MD, Kelly Bojan, DNP

The main purpose of this study is to learn if a vaccine that is given as two shots (injections) to prevent spinal meningitis (an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord caused by Neisseria meningitidis type B) might also work in preventing gonorrhea (caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae). The vaccine we plan to use in this study is called Bexsero and has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other countries for the prevention of meningitis. Opportunities for psychology interns: experience with implementation of biomedical clinical trials, participant recruitment and retention, exposure to regulatory requirements for clinical trials.

 

#CHOPVIOLENCE/ #CHOPHIV: A Pilot Study Adapting the Cure Violence Intervention to Address Violence and HIV in the House/Ball Community of Chicago

Supervisors: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Chris Balthazar, PhD

Black young gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (B-YGBMSM) and transgender women (B-YTW) are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in the U.S. Youth in the House Ball Community (HBC), a subculture of the Black gay community that offers a social network to freely express diverse sexual and gender identities, are among the most at-risk for HIV infection and loss to care, but barriers exist to the provision of HIV services within this community. One barrier is the increasing rates of violence. Interventions are needed that will interrupt the cycle of violence within the HBC to allow for adequate provision of HIV services and increased access to HIV care. We propose to tailor the Cure Violence model for violence prevention for developmental-appropriateness, cultural-specificity and HIV relevance, then pilot test the new intervention (#ChopViolence/#ChopHIV) with B-YGBMSM and B-TW in the Chicago HBC. Study has been completed and database de-identified. Opportunities for psychology interns: data analysis and manuscript preparation.

 

Transgender Youth and PrEP: PK, Safety, Uptake and Adherence

Supervisors: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Marne Castillo, PhD

Transgender women (TW: male-to-female) are one of the most vulnerable populations for acquiring HIV infection, and the scant available data on transgender men (TM: female-to-male) suggests they are also at risk.  TW have accounted for only a very small percentage of all participants in bio-behavioral HIV prevention trials using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and TM have typically not been included. TW and TM adolescents and young adults (also referred to as “youth) have received even less attention in PrEP trials. Although tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC), the FDA-approved PrEP drug, would not be expected to interact with cross-sex hormone therapy (cs-HT; estradiol and testosterone) based on known mechanisms and data from studies with hormonal contraceptives, there are no data that prove this.  Given this lack of data, TW and TM youth on cs-HT have decreased PrEP uptake and adherence due to concerns that PrEP may reduce the effectiveness of cs-HT. To address these critical scientific gaps in PrEP safety for transgender youth and to plan for appropriate implementation we propose the following study in 3 integrated phases. In Phase 1, we will conduct a pharmacokinetic (PK) study exploring the interactions of cs-HT for both TW and TM on TDF/FTC. Simultaneously, in Phase 2, we will collect ethnographic data via focus groups and in-depth interviews to inform the development of a tailored gender-affirmative intervention to improve uptake and adherence to PrEP in transgender youth. In Phase 3, we will conduct a small demonstration trial of PrEP use in TW and TM youth, utilizing the ethnographically developed intervention to improve uptake and adherence, while also monitoring renal and bone safety outcomes. Pilot trial is completed, study is closed, dataset has been de-identified. Opportunities for psychology interns: data analysis and manuscript preparation.

 

Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN)

Supervisors: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Kelly Bojan, DNP, Rachel Jackson, FNP

ATN’s primary mission is to conduct innovative and collaborative research that explores promising behavioral, microbicidal, prophylactic, therapeutic, and vaccine modalities across the HIV prevention and care continuum among adolescents and young adults ages 13 through 24. Research studies are conducted across 12 Site Consortiums around the U.S. The UIC ATN site is conducting multiple ATN studies simultaneously (currently ATN 166, 167, 168, and 170). Descriptions of ATN projects can be found at www.atnconnect.org Opportunities for psychology interns: participant recruitment and retention, conduct qualitative interviews, other survey or data collection.

Completed studies with opportunities to analyze data and publish manuscripts

Multilevel Comprehensive HIV prevention for South African Adolescent Girls and Young Women (IMARA South Africa)
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A., Erin Jaworski, MPH
        This study, adapted an evidence-based mother-daughter HIV prevention program for the South African (SA) context, tested a 2-arm hybrid effectiveness implementation randomized controlled trial on incident sexually transmitted infections, uptake of HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis, and sexual behavior among 645 15-19 year-old adolescent girls and young women and their female caregivers.

Informed Motivated And Responsible about AIDS (IMARA)
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        IMARA is an HIV prevention program for women and their African American daughters. Mothers and daughters participated in a two-day workshop, randomized to either IMARA or FUEL. IMARA targeted sexual behavior, emotion regulation, substance use, healthy relationships, HIV-risk, mother-daughter communication and mother-daughter relationships. Mothers and daughters completed baseline, 6-, and 12-month interviews to evaluate treatment outcomes and they were tested and treated for biological STIs at baseline and 12-months.

GIRLTALK
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        GIRL TALK tested a framework of HIV-risk that emphasizes the interplay of family, peer and partner mechanisms and proposes that family processes (mother-daughter relationships and communication, maternal attitudes and beliefs, mothers’ risk behavior and partner relationships) influence sexual risk behaviors directly and indirectly through peer and partner relationships among AA 12-18 year old girls seeking psychiatric care. Mothers and daughters (N=266) were recruited from seven urban mental health clinics in Chicago and followed for 2 years (baseline, 6, 12-, 18-, and 24-months). Participants complete questionnaires, participate in interviews, and engaged in three structured videotaped interaction tasks.

Project BALANCE
Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        Project Balance was a 3-arm randomized controlled trial for adolescents in therapeutic day schools. Participants (N=418) were adolescents with psychiatric disorders in Rhode Island and Chicago. Project Balance evaluated an affect management and a skills-based intervention and compared the efficacy of these treatment conditions to a general health promotion control group. Each intervention involved 12 45-minute sessions delivered in a classroom setting and co-facilitated by trained research assistants. Assessments were conducted at baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post intervention. A booster session was implemented one month after the 12th session.

CARES
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        CARES explored HIV/AIDS risk determinants among 325 ethnically diverse teenagers seeking outpatient mental health services. Teens and parents were recruited from four outpatient mental health clinics and interviewed at baseline, 6- and 12-months. Family members completed measures of HIV/AIDS information, motivation, and behavioral skills, and teens' personal attributes, relationship concerns, and risky sexual behavior and substance use. Parents and teens also participated in two structured videotaped interaction tasks.

South Africa STYLE
Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        This study adapted and pilot tested an HIV and alcohol/drug use prevention program for South African caregivers and their teens receiving outpatient mental health services. We implemented a small 2-arm pilot test of 14 – 18 year-old parent-teen dyads (n= 90) with data collected at 3-, 6-, and 9 months.

Improving ART adherence and mental health among Rwandan youth living with HIV
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.
        This project implemented a 2-arm RCT to test and compare the efficacy of adherence-enhanced TI-CBT (i.e., TI-CBTe) to usual care in increasing ART adherence among 350 Rwandan 14 – 21 year olds from the two clinics caring for the largest number of youth with HIV in Rwanda. Youth, caregivers, and youth leaders completed baseline, 6-, 12, and 18-month follow-up assessments to assess effects on adherence and important mediators (trauma, depression, gender-based violence).

Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Teens (PHAT LIFE): Implementation Study
Supervisors: Geri Donenberg, Ph.D., Erin Emerson, M.A.       

PHAT Life is an HIV and alcohol/drug use prevention program, for urban 13 – 17 year-old male and female juvenile offenders. In the original efficacy trial, youth were recruited from juvenile probation settings and participated in an 8-session program (either PHAT Life or a health promotion intervention) over two weeks. Teens completed baseline, 6- and 12-month interviews, and they were tested for biological STIs at baseline and 12-month follow up. Treatment was provided for all participants who test positive. The current study is designed to identify an implementation strategy that is both sustainable and cost-effective by comparing peer-led vs. probation staff-led PHAT Life in juvenile probation’s Evening Reporting Centers. Opportunities for psychology interns: data analyses and manuscript preparation.

 

The Neuropsychology Rotation is designed to provide a primary, comprehensive training experience in neuropsychological assessment for interns interested in pursuing a career in the specialty of clinical neuropsychology. As such, a yearlong neuropsychology training experience is the standard training rotation, although 6-month rotations are offered as well depending on the training needs of the intern. The Neuropsychology Program adheres to the Houston Conference guidelines for internship training in clinical neuropsychology, and is designed to prepare the intern for advanced postdoctoral residency/fellowship training in the field and eventual board certification in clinical neuropsychology. The UIC Neuropsychology Service is a lifespan service, with opportunities to provide timely and high-quality neuropsychological evaluation to children, adolescents, and adults. We currently offer two training options that can be tailored to the intern’s interest/training goals: (1) the standard, adult-focused training option, and (2) a lifespan training option in which the intern will have the opportunity to see a mix of both adult and pediatric cases throughout their training rotation. The pediatric arm of the program currently receives referrals from select disciplines, including the Pediatric Neurology, Hematology/Oncology, and Sickle Cell Clinics.
 

Clinical Training Experiences: UIC has a single, integrated lifespan Neuropsychology Service that houses all of the faculty neuropsychologists and provides neuropsychological consultation services for all departments within the UI Health System as well as for the surrounding community. Our service provides comprehensive clinical care to patients by evaluating cognitive, psychological, and functional complaints, clarifying differential diagnostic considerations, informing and directing treatment/rehabilitation planning, and providing pre/post-neurosurgical intervention (e.g., cerebral bypass; resection surgery), alongside our colleagues in Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, and General and Specialty Medicine. We frequently receive referrals from external sources, including outside physicians/hospitals, schools, and other agencies, including the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services and multiple state consent decrees. This affords interns with wide-ranging and rich training opportunities to comprehensively evaluate the full range of neurological, neuromedical, and neuropsychiatric conditions, including but not limited to dementia/neurodegenerative conditions, cerebrovascular disorders, rare neurosurgical populations (e.g., moyamoya disease), tumor, infectious diseases, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, movement disorders, acquired brain injury, systemic medical conditions, ADHD, learning disabilities, developmental disorders, complex psychiatric conditions, and select pediatric conditions (e.g., sickle cell disease; pediatric hematology/oncology). The intern’s primary role is to participate in provision of clinical services in the Outpatient Neuropsychology Clinic, although opportunities to provide bedside evaluation via the Neuropsychology Inpatient Consultation Service exist. UIC is urban, community-based hospital/medical center that serves the people of Chicago and surrounding communities. Our patient population is multiculturally diverse with a substantial portion coming from areas that have been systematically under-resourced and socio-economically disadvantaged. Within this context, interns have ample opportunities to gain competency in provision of neuropsychological services to culturally and linguistically diverse patients. Interns receive supervised experience in test selection, administration/scoring, and interpretation, implementing, and writing up integrative neuropsychological evaluations using a broad range of tests and procedures, as well as oral communication of test results to patients, family members, and referral sources.
 

As part of the standard clinical training experience in the neuropsychology rotation, the intern attends 3 weekly intensive Neuropsychology Didactics: 1) Neuropsychology Case Conference;  2) Fundamentals of Clinical Neuropsychology; and 3) Functional Neuroanatomy. Other optional seminars of interest to those on a career trajectory in neuropsychology include Psychiatry and Neurology/Neurosurgery Grand Rounds.

Interns completing rotations in the Neuropsychology Program will master the following specific competencies:

  • Assessment of neurobehavioral and psychological disorders stemming from cognitive, psychiatric, and medical disability 
  • Selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation of neuropsychological tests 
  • Case conceptualization through integration of history, test data, and behavioral observation 
  • Communication of test results through written reports and oral presentation 
  • Development of a working knowledge and experiential base in neurological and psychiatric diagnosis 
  • Capacity for neuropsychological consultation to medicine, neuropsychiatry, neurosurgery, neurology, other medical services, schools, and other referral sources 
  • Provision of feedback to patients and families
  • Conducting neuropsychological research (if interested)

Our mental health services research team at IJR works to identify new service models to address the needs of families living in urban poverty. This emphasizes the importance of integrating mental health with the goals of settings that families naturally access (such as schools, after-school, community organizations) and strengthening the ways that people in these settings (such as staff, teachers and parents) can support increasing numbers of youth and families in need.

Center for Clinical and Translation Science (CCTS). In August 2016, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) at UIC was awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health. For more details: http://www.ccts.uic.edu/news/nih-awards-177m-uic-center-clinical-and-translational-science.  Dr. Atkins is Director of Community Engagement and Collaboration Core of the CCTS, which also includes Drs. Mehta, Rusch, Walden, and Rudd. consultations recruitment and retention and Dissemination and Implementation Science. The mission of the CEC is to support UIC researchers to promote successful and equitable university-community-policy partnerships focused on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based health programs and services. Drawing on theories of organizational and community context to promote effective and sustainable health policies and practices, we target our programs and services to UIC research investigators, educational & community organizations, and key policy stakeholders to improve the health of the community, with a special focus on effective health services for urban youth.  The CCTS provides opportunities for interns to learn more about how clinical and translational health research and how our team participates in ongoing collaboration with other local university CCTS hubs to promote innovative community-engaged science in the Chicagoland area.  

Roles for Interns:

  • Participation in ongoing CCTS meetings
  • Participation in grant preparation and consultation services related to Dissemination and Implementation Science
  • Learn about our team’s ongoing collaboration with community and policy stakeholders to identify behavioral health indicators for youth. Current collaborations include:
    • Chicago Department of Public Health
    • Mile Square Federally Qualified Health Center
    • NAMI Chicago
    • Circuit Court of Chicago Restorative Justice Court
       

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group clinic rotation provides interns with experience co-leading a weekly DBT skills group with Dr. Tory Eisenlohr-Moul. Patients (18 years +) are referred from providers throughout Psychiatry to learn skills to improve transdiagnostic difficulties with emotion regulation and related behavioral concerns. Because the DBT skills group operates on a rolling admission basis, the skills group is always active.

Clinical Opportunities (~3 Hours/Week): If an exclusively clinical experience is desired, the rotation will require 3 hours of time per week for DBT group preparation, skills group sessions, documentation, and supervision. If desired, there are opportunities for the intern to supervise medical residents (e.g., supervising a medical resident as they learn to lead a basic mindfulness exercise, or as they learn to conduct a DBT group orientation session).

Clinical + Research Rotation (~5 Hours/Week): Interns are welcome to expand this rotation to include a research component. The intern would write a research paper focused on mechanisms relevant to DBT (using existing or new data collection from DBT patients). This would add roughly 2 hours of time per week, for a total of 5 hours for the full rotation.

Immigrant Family Mental Health Advocacy (IFMHA) Program

Director: Dana Rusch, PhD

The Immigrant Family Mental Health Advocacy (IFMHA) Program aims to strengthen research-practice-policy connections to address the mental health needs of immigrant children, families, and communities. This rotation is ideal for interns whose programmatic work aligns with our mission to:

  • Advance clinical care and treatment outcomes
  • Provide clinical education and training opportunities grounded in policy advocacy
  • Foster community capacity building and collaborative partnerships
  • Generate community-engaged research focused on empowerment and systems change
  • Mobilize advocacy and policy efforts to address inequity

Clinical Services (Monday, Tuesday)
The IFMHA Program clinic is committed to providing outpatient services that meet the complex mental health needs of immigrant communities. Although clinical services are not limited to serving majority Spanish-speaking Latine families, this is our primary patient population. We draw from evidence-based interventions with responsivity to cultural and contextual context and adaptations that reflect the needs and preferences of the families we serve. Clinical supervision will focus on the integration of advocacy principles and empowerment strategies in clinical care, as well as how to serve as policy advocates in our work outside the clinic. Interns will often have opportunities to learn more about consultation with immigration lawyers, providing advocacy and support to individuals/families seeking immigration relief, and school-based advocacy for children of immigrants and English language learners. Interns typically follow 2-3 cases, depending on presenting concerns, case management demands, and number of trainees. Trainees will attend weekly 1-hour clinical supervision. 

Who We Serve

  • Children and adolescents from immigrant mixed status families with varying diagnoses (anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties) 
  • UIC students affected by immigration-related stressors (e.g., undocumented status, DACA precarity, detention or deportation of a family member)
  • Young adult asylum seekers who arrived as unaccompanied minors and recent migrant arrival youth in need of psychological and/or psychiatric services

Policy and Advocacy Activities (Thursday, Friday)
IFMHA Program activities focus on raising awareness of policy issues, synthesizing the research on the mental health impact of immigration policies, and disseminating information via policy updates/briefs, infographics, and guides/tip sheets for key stakeholders. Dr. Rusch is involved in several committees/collaborations focused on immigration policy and advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national level. She serves as Co-Chair of the Policy and Advocacy Workgroup and Core Leadership Team for the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health (CIMH; https://ourcimh.org/). Trainees with clinical cases are expected to participate in policy and advocacy work because it is an integral component to the IFMHA clinical care model and can do so through a variety of experiences:

  • Participation in CIMH meetings and initiatives 
  • Participation in CIMH Migrant Mental Health trainings and reflective consultation to frontline staff working with migrant arrivals 
  • Preparation of policy updates and resources for dissemination 
  • Preparation of public comments related to federal rulemaking and regulatory changes 
  • Development of an IFMHA Program resources for UIC and community partners, including workshops/webinars and presentations 
  • Provide support to UIC Office of Diversity, Equity and Engagement on student inclusion initiatives for undocumented students

Research Activities
Can A Youth Civic Leadership, Engagement and Mindfulness Program Reduce Structural Racism, and Support Functioning and Well-being for Youth of Color (PIs: Green & Cruz Gonzalez; Co-I: Rusch) 

This UG3/UH3 grant is funded by the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in collaboration with Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital. This study tests the effectiveness of a youth leadership and civic engagement program with a mindfulness component in improving the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of youth of color and their civic participation and leadership skills.

Roles for interns: 

  • Group facilitation 1-2 days per week during after school hours 
  • Recruitment and data collection with youth participants and parents 
  • Collaboration with school intervention site teams and Boston-based research team

Interns will also be involved in ongoing research projects and grant activities that respond to the needs and concerns of community stakeholders and those impacted by immigration policy. Interns will be involved in creating research briefs to disseminate research findings to the CIMH listserv and community-based organizations/partners. Research activities may also include contributing to policy statements, preparing community trainings, and presenting research at local and national events/conferences. Dr. Rusch is also a faculty member of the Community Engagement and Collaboration (CEC) Core of the CCTS and interns that select the CCTS rotation could be involved in community-engaged research focused on health equity for immigrant and refugee communities.

Supervisor(s)

Description 
The faculty members affiliated with the clinic offer our trainees supervised training in cognitive behavioral treatment (or more generally, empirically supported treatments) for adults with depression and anxiety diagnoses. Within the scope of the clinic, all new patients are evaluated using a structured diagnostic screening interview and patients complete diagnosis-specific self-report measures that are part of the evaluation. These measures can then be used as a means of gauging treatment progress as well as forming the foundation for a multiple baseline assessment. Interns are encouraged to utilize established treatment manuals for the basis of their treatment intervention(s) and, with the input of their supervisor, to adapt the manual to the specific needs of their patient. While the primary mode of treatment is individual CBT, group treatment is also offered. Depending on staffing availability, intensive outpatient and, on occasion, inpatient experiences are available. 

Intern’s Role
Interns participate in all aspects of the treatment process. If they are not already familiar with structured clinical interviewing, they will acquire skills in this area. In addition to individual and group treatment, interns can be involved with a team approach to intensive outpatient and inpatient treatment should we have patients that are in need of these latter forms of treatment. Prospective interns should note that the primary theoretical orientation that they will be expected to use is cognitive behavioral (and can include extensions of this model such as mindfulness, ACT, etc.). Because the clinic strongly endorses an empirically oriented approach, there are numerous opportunities to engage in treatment outcome research, especially in the area of effectiveness research and N = 1 studies. Interns are expected to attend and participate in clinic meetings the content of which reflects research and administrative issues as well as clinical case presentations.

Opportunities/expectations for the rotation
Interns will provide individual CBT psychotherapy for mood and anxiety disorders in an outpatient setting. Typical presentations seen in the clinic include depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic, OCD and PTSD. An intern will learn manualized protocols as well as general CBT techniques. Attempts will be made to give interns the type of patients they have the most interest in seeing, but they will see patients diagnosed with a range of disorders.

  • May have the opportunity to learn and implement aspects of ACT, DBT and/or RO DBT, depending on patient needs. 
  • Up to an hour of individual weekly supervision will be provided.
  • Patients will primarily be seen at NPI, 912 S. Wood St on the UIC Medical Campus, with the possibility to provide telehealth services in specific cases
  • May have opportunities to work on technology-based intervention and/ or substance use treatment and attitudinal change research if interested (but not required)

PEACE Lab logo

The Parenting, Environmental Risk, Affective Neuroscience, and Child Emotions (PEACE) lab offers interns the opportunity to participate in research aimed at identifying mechanisms that account for early mental health difficulties among children living in stressful environments. We currently have one active funded study and three completed studies that interns can be involved with in different capacities:

 

Active Studies:

Improving Brain-Behavior Markers of Preschool Executive Function through a Group-Based Parenting Intervention for Low-Income Families

PI Jennifer Suor, PhD

This NIMH-funded project is focused on conducting a mechanistic randomized clinical trial to determine whether neural-behavioral indices of childhood executive function (EEG, behavior survey) is an experimental therapeutic target through which parent participation in the Chicago Parent Program decreases disruptive behavior problems in preschool-age children living in urban poverty. Parents and children complete baseline laboratory visits, are randomized to the Chicago Parent Program and control conditions, and then complete post-treatment, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up assessments.

Completed studies (archival data analysis, data preprocessing, and observational coding opportunities):

Pathways Linking Maternal Depression to Mental and Physical Health Outcomes among Offspring during Early Childhood 

PI Jennifer Suor, PhD

This CCTS pilot study explored brain-behavioral mechanisms through which maternal depression eventuates in psychopathology and poor physical health among offspring during early childhood (ages 5 to 6). The mechanisms that were explored in the study (affect regulation, executive function, parenting) represent potential malleable risk markers, which may serve as promising prevention targets for future projects.

Early Life Adversity and Neurobiological Pathways to Mental Health Outcomes in Early Childhood

PI Jennifer Suor, PhD

The goal of this American Psychological Foundation funded project was to use a novel multiple levels of analysis approach to explicate if brain-behavioral indicators of EF and biomarkers of inflammation mediate relations between early life adversity (ELA; poverty, trauma, harsh caregiving, family stress) and early childhood mental health problems, and evaluate specificity in etiologic pathways. The project also sought to identify how maternal parenting practices could mitigate the toxic effects of ELA on these mechanisms, which could help to identify objective (neuro)physiological targets for preventive parenting interventions for children living in adverse family contexts.

Predicting and Preventing High-Risk Adolescent Behavior 

PI Jennifer Suor, PhD 

The goal of this NICHD-funded project was to delineate whether enhanced reward positivity (RewP) ERP component, an indicator of heightened sensitivity to reward feedback, predicts increased risky sexual behavior (RSB) over an 18-month follow-up period in a sample of 80 adolescent girls (ages 12-16); half of the sample had mothers with histories of depression. The study also focused on identifying how maternal parenting styles influence adolescent RSB trajectories with the goal to identify parenting factors that might increase or decrease risk for RSB among adolescent girls who have neural vulnerabilities to engage in risky sex.

Intern Opportunities:  

For prospective interns, the rotation is a mix of clinical and research activities. We prefer involvement that spans across the entire 12 months of internship. 

Interns can create an individualized experience tailored to their specific interests and goals. Available training activities include the following: learn to deliver an evidence-based parenting intervention for childhood disruptive behavior problems; conduct semi-structured diagnostic interviews with parents to assess preschool mental health symptoms; learn and conduct behavioral coding of parenting behaviors and preprocessing and analysis of EEG (ERPs) units of analysis; and prepare first-author poster presentations and manuscripts for peer-review publications as lead or 2nd author. Interns have weekly supervision and participate in biweekly team meetings.

https://www.psych.uic.edu/research/lab-directory/peace-lab

Supervisor(s)

Description: The Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic (PMDC) at UIC is the premier specialty clinic for pediatric mood disorders in the greater Chicago area and in the state of Illinois. The clinic treats children and adolescents aged 3-18 with mood spectrum disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, severe mood dysregulation, adjustment disorder with mood symptoms, bereavement, and traumatized children with mood symptoms. Many of the children treated in our clinic have complex symptoms presentations, with comorbid disorders such as ADHD, ODD, generalized anxiety, and PTSD. Children and families are offered a range of services, including comprehensive diagnostic assessment, individual and family therapy, manual-based group therapy, and medication evaluation and monitoring. The clinic is comprised of an interdisciplinary team – a child psychologist, child psychiatrists, a doctoral-level psychiatric nurse, a clinical social worker, psychology externs, psychology interns, and psychiatric fellows.

Intern’s Role: For a clinical rotation, interns will conduct diagnostic assessments, carry a therapy caseload (usually from 2-7 patients depending on the complexity of cases and intern’s time commitment), and participate in our manual-based 12-session group treatment, called RAINBOW, for pediatric bipolar disorder. Interns will be trained on the RAINBOW manual and deliver the treatment with individual/family patients and in a group therapy setting. There are also opportunities to facilitate an adolescent girls’ depression group. Interns have weekly supervision and participate in didactics and team meetings.

Clinic: Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic

Supervisor(s)

The Pediatric Neuropsychology Rotation is designed to provide a training experience for individuals who are interested in the neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents referred from Neurology, Hematology/Oncology and Sickle cell Services at UIC Department of Pediatrics. This rotation is geared toward refining skills in the neuropsychological assessment of pediatric outpatients with complicated medical history. Interns receive supervised experience in planning test selection, implementing, and writing up neuropsychological evaluations using a broad range of tests and procedures, as well as oral communication of test results to referral sources, patients and families. 

Supervisor(s)

The Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic (PSADC) specializes in early identification, comprehensive evaluation, and evidence-based treatment of anxiety disorders in diverse youth from age 4 years through older adolescents.

For more information visit the Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic (PSADC).

Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul’s CLEAR Lab uses a combination of mechanistic hormone experiments (RCTs) and observational studies to clarify how normal hormone changes (menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, puberty) impact daily transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms (especially suicidal thoughts and behaviors) among female outpatients. Since not all females are “hormone-sensitive” to the neurobiological effects of hormone changes, we also emphasize the use of multilevel models to explain these between-person differences in hormone sensitivity. We use a transdiagnostic, symptom-specific approach informed by both the RDoC and HiTOP frameworks. Primary outcomes of interest include daily self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (suicidality and NSSI), as well as daily symptoms of alcohol use disorder, ADHD, eating disorders, and borderline personality disorder. With respect to the DSM-5 framework, we study transdiagnostic mechanisms underlying “premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)” and mood disorders “with peripartum onset”. While we primarily focus on the menstrual cycle, we also study perinatal, perimenopausal, and peripubertal effects of hormones on psychopathology.

Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul is primarily interested in training research-focused interns in the use of clinical trials to clarify the pathophysiology of transdiagnostic hormone-related symptoms. Should the intern develop a longer-term interest in this work, she is able to serve as a postdoc mentor on several institutional postdoctoral fellowships at UIC. She is also interested in training clinically-focused interns on the use of standardized assessment methods for acute suicide risk, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and premenstrual exacerbation of chronic disorders.
 

Active Grants in Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul’s Laboratory:

  • NIMH R01-120843 (PI: Eisenlohr-Moul): Cyclical Neuroactive Steroid Changes, Arousal, and Proximal Suicide Risk: An Experimental Approach.
  • NIMH R01-122446 (Co-PIs: Eisenlohr-Moul, Nock, & Prinstein): Adolescent Girls’ Risk for Suicide Across the Menstrual Cycle: Examining Stress and Negative Valence Systems Longitudinally
  • NIMH K99/R00-109667 (PI: Eisenlohr-Moul); Ovarian Hormone Withdrawal and Suicide Risk: An Experimental Approach.
  • NARSAD Young Investigator Award (PI: Eisenlohr-Moul): Neurosteroid and immune mechanisms of steroid-regulated suicidality in a mechanistic clinical trial.
  • NIMH R01-119119 (PI: Martel): Estrogen Effects on ADHD and Cognition.
  • NIAAA R21 (PI: Childs): Influence of Synthetic Sex Hormones on Alcohol Effects and Consumption in Women.
     

Training/Research Themes:

  1. Use of clinical trials to clarify how ovarian hormones (estrogen, progesterone) influence female psychopathology and suicidality, including mechanisms such as immune signaling (e.g., inflammatory gene network expression, cytokines) and GABAergic neurosteroid metabolites (e.g., allopregnanolone).
  2. Suicide risk assessment in clinical trials with chronically suicidal patients and participants.
  3. State-of-the-art methods for diagnosing DSM-5 premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and premenstrual exacerbation of chronic psychopathology (PME) across the menstrual cycle in female patients and participants.
     

(Themes 1 & 2): Building on years of evidence for heightened perimenstrual risk of suicide and hospitalization in females, Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul’s current NIMH-funded research program uses intensive crossover randomized controlled trials of hormone stabilization in women with chronic suicidality. These trials investigate the role of cyclical ovarian hormone changes in acute risk for emotional crisis and suicide. Studies also focus on downstream mechanisms of ovarian hormone changes in female psychopathology, including changes in GABAergic Neurosteroid metabolites, inflammatory gene expression, and inflammatory signaling markers.  Daily and weekly suicide risk interviews are repeated within the same participant over 6-9 months. 

  • Research Opportunities: Research roles in these projects will vary widely depending on the level of interest in ovarian hormone mechanisms in psychopathology, but could include literature reviews and other writing tasks for co-authorship on primary or secondary trial outcome manuscripts. Exceptionally interested interns may have the opportunity to develop a first-author manuscript using the repeated measures data from the trials.
  • Clinical Opportunities:  Optional clinical opportunities in these projects could involve learning to conduct the SCID-5 as well as suicide risk assessments with participants (daily over the phone, and/or weekly in the laboratory) with highly standardized interview protocols and close supervision from Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul.

(Theme 3): Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul is an expert in the diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and has recently published the first computerized scoring system for making a reliable diagnosis of PMDD using 2 months of daily mood ratings (the “C-PASS”; Eisenlohr-Moul et al., 2017, Am J Psych). However, this work has also identified transdiagnostic subtypes of hormone sensitivity that require further investigation, and which call into question the presence of a heterogeneous “PMDD” diagnostic category.

  • Research Opportunities: Research roles in these projects will again vary widely depending on intern interest, but could involve work to collect data in our large PMDD diagnostic registry study, and coauthorship on associated papers aimed at validating subtypes of hormone sensitivity and updated clinical diagnostic procedures.
  • Clinical Opportunities:  Optional clinical opportunities on these projects would involve learning to make reliable and valid diagnoses of DSM-5 PMDD using prospective daily ratings from patients in the context of our ongoing diagnostic registry studies. Additionally, you would learn to conduct SCID-5 interviews with participants who have met prospective criteria for PMDD to identify comorbidities.
     

For prospective interns, the rotation can be fully research, fully clinical, or a mix of both. Involvement should last a minimum of 6 months for clinical roles, and the full year for research roles.

The REWARD lab, led by Dr. Natania Crane, PhD, performs Research Examining What drives Addiction Risk and comorbid Depression. We seek to better understand the brain and behavioral risk factors for Substance Use Disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety). Our lab uses multi-modal imaging techniques (fMRI and EEG), neuropsychological measures, self-report measures, and acute drug administration studies. The goal of our studies is to identify neurobehavioral risk factors that can be targeted for prevention strategies among individuals at risk for Substance Use Disorders and for treatment strategies among individuals diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders.

We currently have one active funded study that interns can be involved with:

  • Brain-Behavior Markers of Reward and Cannabis Abuse Risk In Young Adults: This study combines pharmacological challenge, pharmaco-fMRI, pharmaco-EEG, and self-report measures to characterize individual differences in subjective reward response and neural reward processing to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, among healthy young adults who may be at-risk for problematic cannabis use.

Intern Opportunities:
For prospective interns, the rotation is a mix of clinical/research activities. We prefer involvement that spans across the entire 12 months of internship.

Conduct diagnostic assessments with young adults; Learn and conduct behavioral, EEG (ERPs), and fMRI data analyses; prepare manuscripts for peer-review publications as lead or 2nd author. Interns have weekly supervision and participate in team meetings

https://www.psych.uic.edu/research/lab-directory/reward-lab/about-us/reward-lab

Supervisor(s)

UIC Recovery Clinic

Description:The UIC Recovery Clinic provides comprehensive, outpatient psychiatric services for individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychopathology. We believe that patients are most likely to recover from addictive and psychiatric disorders when they are addressed simultaneously, in particular, with multiple complementary techniques. Treatment approaches are therefore individualized, and flexible, and may include diagnostic evaluation, medication management, weekly psychotherapy, and coordination of referrals to outside care. The Recovery Clinic itself is multi-disciplinary and includes an addiction psychiatrist, clinical psychologists, a pharmacist, and several in-training psychiatrists and psychologists.

Intern’s Role
Clinical psychology interns are offered the opportunity to receive structured training in substance abuse, and psychiatric comorbidity, while providing supervised, individual, empirically-validated treatments to patients. Interns will be trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for substance use disorders as well as other well-supported techniques such as motivational interviewing and mindfulness. A typical intern caseload includes four to five weekly patients; though this is flexible based on the intern’s training goals. There is a clinic team meeting each week which includes didactic seminars, case presentations, discussion of administrative issues, and review of new scientific literature, which interns are expected to attend and participate in each week.

The MATTERS Lab

Welcome to the MATTERS Lab! We are an interdisciplinary team collaborating with community members with the goal of Making Accessible Tech for Teens Equitably, Responsively, and Safely.

Our goal is to partner with pediatric patients—primarily teens and their families—to make digital mental health tools work better and be more accessible to them in their daily lives. In recognition of the systemic barriers that digital mental health can create, perpetuate, or exacerbate for youth in trying to access tools they need to improve their mental health and wellness, we focus on the use of community-engaged practices, Human-Centered Design and Implementation Science methodologies, and an anti-racism lens to ultimately work with and for youth in the spaces that they regularly visit (e.g., primary care, school, community).

Opportunities

  • Observe, Conduct: Usability testing sessions, Clinic observations, Implementation interviews, Community Advisory Board Meetings
  • Engagement in Pediatric Primary Care
  • Clinical Opportunities in Pediatric Embedded Clinic
  • Data Analyses           

Lab Director: Colleen Stiles-Shields, Ph.D., ecss@uic.edu
Standing Lab Meeting: Thursdays, 11:00-12:00

The Urban Youth Trauma Center (UYTC) is a SAMHSA funded Treatment Service Adaptation Center and a member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. The program is meant to promote and disseminate comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated care for multi-problem, high-risk youth affected by trauma and community violence.

For more information, visit the Urban Youth Trauma Center (UYTC) website.

The Young Child Clinic offers comprehensive assessments and treatment to children from birth through five years old who have social-emotional, behavioral, traumatic, and mental health difficulties. The Young Child Clinic is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of providers and trainees, including a psychiatrist, social worker, licensed clinical psychologist, medical residents, and psychiatry fellows that collaborate on patient care. Children and their caregivers participate in a three-part diagnostic evaluation and following the evaluation are provided feedback with treatment recommendations. Assessment and treatment at the Young Child Clinic are family-centered and evidence-based. Behavior programs, parent skills training, and various types of therapies are the primary tools implemented. Coordination of care with schools, daycare centers, therapists, primary care physicians, and other medical specialists is included with treatment. Interns who rotate in the clinic will gain experience observing and leading diagnostic evaluations with young children and their caregivers and implementing evidence-based treatments for young children. Training experiences will also include weekly individual supervision with a licensed clinical psychologist and biweekly participation in treatment team meetings. This is a 20% full year clinical rotation.

For more information, visit the Young Child Clinic website: https://www.psych.uic.edu/clinical/child-and-adolescent-services/young-child-clinic

Supervisor(s)