<aside> 👉🏼 This is our team as of 01/01/24. We are a diversely-trained group of scientists with backgrounds in clinical, quantitative, and cognitive psychology, neuroscience, public health, biostatistics, microbiology, and psychiatry! Official bios for each team member can be found on our UIC website.
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Principal Investigator
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.
As a scientist, she works primarily with mechanistic randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and longitudinal observation studies to clarify how ovarian steroids alter transdiagnostic RDoC constructs (e.g., arousal, processing of loss or threat) and related phenotypes (particularly suicidality and alcohol use) in susceptible females. Her NIMH-funded clinical trials (K99109667; R00MH109667; RF1MH120843) examine the effects of natural changes in neuroactive steroids (vs. exogenous steroid stabilization) on mechanisms of proximal suicide risk during the perimenstrual weeks of the menstrual cycle. She has also been awarded a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant to evaluate the role of the immune system in these effects.
Recently, she has also engaged in collaborative grants to study the role of the menstrual cycle in (1) adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior (R01MH122446; Role: Principal Investigator), (2) alcohol use (R21AA028736; Role: consultant), and (3) symptoms of ADHD (R01MH119119; Role: Co-I). She is passionate about training and empowering others to conduct rigorous scientific work on the menstrual cycle and mental health.
Over the past five years, she has also volunteered as the Chair of the Clinical Advisory Board at the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD), a nonprofit that seeks to educate patients, health care providers, and scientists about premenstrual disorders, and to advocate for scientific, healthcare, and policy progress in this area. This work has culminated in the organization’s recent receipt of a 2021 PCORI stakeholder convening grant to bring together scientific, healthcare, and patient stakeholders to discuss the current state of the premenstrual disorders landscape and make recommendations for patient-informed science in this area as the field moves forward.
The combination of her scientific contributions and advocacy work has established her as an international expert in the pathophysiology, assessment, and treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder and cyclical exacerbation of other psychiatric disorders.
Associate Director, Clinical Scientist
Dr. Ross is a clinical psychologist and scientist working at the intersection of the menstrual cycle and psychopathology. As Associate Director of the CLEAR Lab, she helps to manage the day-to-day protocols of the clinical trials in the field of premenstrual disorders, conducts clinical suicide risk monitoring and management, provides supervision of structured diagnostic interviews, and leads scientific projects in conceptualizing, analyzing, and writing scientific manuscripts. Dr. Ross’s research centers on 1) the role of the menstrual cycle (and ovarian hormone fluctuations) in interpersonal dysfunction and suicidality, and 2) the application of DBT skills in yielding symptom improvement in the premenstrual phase among hormone-sensitive patients. In addition to her work in clinical research, Dr. Ross is the founder of a Chicago-based private practice specializing in evidence-based treatments for premenstrual disorders, as well as mood, anxiety, and trauma disorders. She currently serves on the clinical advisory board for the International Association of Premenstrual Disorders (IAPMD).
Supervising Physician, Co-Investigator
Dr. Melissa Wagner-Schuman was born and raised in Wisconsin and completed most of her training in the Milwaukee area. She went to undergrad at the Milwaukee School of Engineering and graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. She continued her education at the Medical College of Wisconsin where she received her MD in 2012 and received a PhD in Neuroscience in 2010. During the last several years of medical school she became interested in psychiatry, particularly at risk youth, and developed interventions to help prevent or limit adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
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Laboratory Manager, Clinical Research Coordinator, Senior Research Associate
Gabriela joined Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul’s CLEAR Lab (Claryifing Endocrinology of Acute Risk) in April 2021 as a Clinical Research Coordinator to assist on research investigating acute neurobiological risk of depression and suicidal behaviors. She received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago in May 2017 and received an M.S. in Biotechnology at Rush University to further pursue a career in research.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Katja is a postdoctoral fellow within the UIC CLEAR Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Tory Eisenlohr-Moul. She is a recipient of the Walter Benjamin Research Fellowship from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). Her research centers on 1) the role of the menstrual cycle (and ovarian hormone fluctuations) in psychiatric symptoms and suicidality, 2) executive functioning and cardiac vagal activity as underlying mechanisms of cyclical symptoms, and 3) the reliable and valid assessment of PMS and PMDD.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Elizabeth Mulligan is a postdoctoral research fellow within the UIC CLEAR Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Tory Eisenlohr-Moul. She is a recipient of the Neuroscience of Mental Health T32 Fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health in UIC’s Department of Psychiatry. Her research leverages multimodal approaches (EEG, biological, self-report, and behavioral data) to examine the neurobiological bases of mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents and adults. She is particularly interested in reproductive mental health and examining effects of female neuroactive steroids on neural pathways underlying affective disorders.
Clinical Psychology PhD Student (G4)
Hafsah Tauseef is a clinical psychology doctoral student with an interest in incorporating the menstrual cycle as a salient time-varying factor for psychopathology. Specifically, she is interested in building idiographic models that can be used for just-in-time-adaptive intervention models. Hafsah has a particular interest in suicide, risky behaviors (i.e., substance use), and internalizing disorders (i.e., depression and anxiety). Her independent line of research expands to three broad themes (1) the development of research methods and applied statistics for studying menses, suicide, and associated psychopathology, (2) The impact of reproductive transitions and ovarian hormones on depression and suicide, and (3) understanding the exacerbates and treatments unique to female psychopathology. Finally, Hafsah is excited to collaborate with individuals who are studying affective disorders during the peripubertal transition, pregnancy, and perimenopause.
Neuroscience MD/PhD Student (G4)
Jordan came to UIC in 2018 as an MD/PhD student in UIC’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). Currently, Jordan is a PhD candidate preparing her dissertation for the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. Prior to joining the CLEAR lab, Jordan graduated from Vanderbilt University with double majors in Neuroscience and Child Development, then completed a post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), studying sex differences in brain development across puberty. Under Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul's training, Jordan has studied how the menstrual cycle interacts with modulators of GABAergic systems, including alcohol use and neuroactive steroids. For her dissertation research, Jordan is interested in identifying if sensitivity of the GABA-A receptor serves as a peripheral biomarker of menstrual cycle-related psychiatric symptoms.After defending her PhD in Neuroscience, Jordan will return to medical school with the goal of becoming a primary care physician who focuses on the intersection of mental and reproductive healthcare.
Neuroscience MD/PhD Student (G2)
Anisha came to UIC in 2020 as an MD/PhD student in UIC's Medical Scientist Training Program. Currently, Anisha is completing the PhD phase of her dual-degree training under Dr. Eisenlohr-Moul in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. Prior to joining the CLEAR lab, Anisha graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a major in Public Health Studies, concentrating in biostatistics. Her research interests are 1) Understanding how stressor exposures moderate affective reactivity to the menstrual cycle; 2) Developing novel methods for growth models across the menstrual cycle; 3) Evaluate the role of sleep in cyclical affective symptoms. Upon completing her dual MD/PhD training, Anisha hopes to integrate clinical trial research into her practice as a physician.
