Keri Heilman PhD
- Research Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina
- T32 in the Neuroscience of Mental Health Graduate
- Alumni
Keri Heilman is a Research Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry department at the University of North Carolina. Keri is a consultant and/or investigator on several grants designed to evaluate autonomic reactivity and social referencing in young children, autonomic activity and social behavior in women who are HIV positive, and autonomic activity in older adults with and without health issues. Additionally, Keri involved in several intervention studies designed to evaluate the autonomic and behavioral effects of our Listening Project intervention protocol in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, behavioral dysregulation and/or who have experienced early life trauma. For the research and medical community, Keri also frequently teaches training workshops on the assessment, editing and analyses of heart rate variability data. In summary, support from the NRSA institutional training grant allowed Keri to research clinical characteristics/presentations of various mental health disorders, learn new techniques for studying underlying neural mechanisms, and apply the knowledge from both areas to the development of Keri's research program.
| Type | Page | Program(s) |
| Predoctoral Alumni | T32 Alumni | T32 Research Fellowships, T32 in the Neuroscience of Mental Health |
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Support from the training grant enabled me not only to pursue my graduate studies in Behavioral Neuroscience, but also to develop relationships and collaborations with clinicians and neuroscientists who shared my interest in pediatric social anxiety. I completed my PhD in 2006, and Dr. Porges was my advisor. The title of my dissertation was “Neurobiology of Social Behavior in Individuals with Selective Mutism.” The focus of my career is the neurophysiology of social behavior, and my ultimate goal is to develop successful interventions for individuals with difficulties with social behavior (i.e., social anxiety, selective mutism, autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, PTSD and others). As a predoctoral trainee, I met with clinicians who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of clinical disorders that are defined by abnormal social behavior. I also met with neuroscientists to learn new techniques and methodologies for researching the neural mechanisms that may underlie social behavior. I ultimately applied my acquired knowledge to the development of a psychophysiological protocol that I tested as part of my dissertation research with children and adolescents diagnosed with selective mutism/social anxiety. My long-term career goal is to continue the study of the neurobiology of social behavior in children and adults, particularly in clinical populations who have demonstrated difficulties in social behavior (selective mutism, social anxiety, autism, infant colic, PTSD).