Principal Investigator:
Sabra Inslicht, Ph.D.
Dr. Inslicht has been conducting human clinical research on the psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for the past 20 years, serving as Principal Investigator on projects sponsored by the Dept of Defense, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute of Health. Her research goals are: 1) to identify psychobiological causes and consequences of traumatic stress symptoms; 2) to characterize sex differences in the biology of PTSD; and 3) to develop drug treatments that have potential for facilitating fear extinction and improving the treatment of PTSD. She has led clinical studies using a human laboratory paradigm to examine fear conditioning in PTSD and has examined complex steroid pathways, reproductive hormones, and immune function. Her ultimate goal is to use the knowledge gained on the neurobiology of PTSD to inform novel interventions for ameliorating prolonged posttraumatic stress responses. The possibility that there may be sex differences in the neurobiology of PTSD may lead to more tailored treatments for men and women.
Post Doctoral Fellow
Morgan Bartholomew Ph.D.
Morgan earned a Ph.D. from University of California Los Angeles in 2021, where she developed a novel EEG paradigm for the study of emotion inhibition and conducted studies linking changes in emotion inhibition function to stress exposure and adult depression severity. She is broadly interested in 1) physiological mechanisms by which stress exposure impacts severity and course of PTSD, 2) the moderating effect of early life and chronic stress exposure on the relationship between acute trauma exposure and emotion regulation function, and 3) changes to attentional biases, impulsivity, and emotion regulation associated with PTSD.
Clinical Research Coordinators
Connie Fee
Joyce Gurdock
Mary Thornton
Practicum Students
Lexie Thomas
Lexie Thomas is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and a doctoral student of Clinical Psychology with a focus on neuropsychological assessment at the Wright Institute. She is completing an externship with SFVAHCS, focusing on PTSD, Mood Disorders, SUD, and SPMI. She has clinical experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families who have experienced challenges related to complex trauma, the criminal justice system, dual-diagnosis, severe persistent mental illness/serious emotional disturbance, and chemical dependency. Currently she works in psychiatric emergency services where she performs assessments, brief therapy interventions, and individualize treatment planning to a diverse population of patients in acute crises. Additionally, she conduct pro bono forensic evaluations for individuals seeking asylum. In her free time, Lexie enjoys spending time with her loved ones, playing rugby and training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Leah Hotchkiss
Leah is currently a clinical psychology doctoral student in the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium. Her clinical interests include gender, sexuality, reproductive health and trauma. Leah is the current LGBT services and Addiction and Recovery Treatment psychology extern at the San Francisco VA where she provides both individual and group therapy. Leah is also working on her dissertation which includes providing trauma treatment to parents with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Leave moved from Connecticut to the Bay Area in 2014 to attend UC Berkeley and has been here ever since with no plans on leaving anytime soon. She loves art, design, cooking and live performance of all kinds.
Research Assistants
Sharon Stovezky
Sharon earned her B.A. in economic and computer science from Harvard University in 2015. Her research interests center around the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for PTSD and complex trauma. Outside the lab, Sharon has a broad interest in mental health issues and works as a product manager at YouTube focusing on health and mental health content and user needs. She also volunteers at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention hotline. In her free time, Sharon enjoys hiking with her dog, running and biking, dancing, cooking and reading.
Isaiah Harrell
Isaiah is a United States Navy veteran and a Ph.D. Candidate at the California School of Professional Psychology. He is interested in researching issues that impact the military and veteran population. These research interests include trauma, sleep quality, emotion regulation, and suicide prevention. Isaiah would like to be commissioned in the Navy and contribute to the development of suicide reduction programs.