Faculty

Bio

An award-winning educator, Assistant Professor Jacquetta Blacker, MD, MA, joined the U following several years working for the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System in Rochester and Austin, MN, as an assistant professor in psychiatry and a senior associate consultant. Dr. Blacker is board certified in both adult and child and adolescent psychiatry.Being at the University enables two goals for Dr. Blacker. "I want to work in clinical care with a population that has a universal shortage of healthcare providers," she explained. "Part of that is helping to strengthen inpatient services. The other part of my job is research. I want to dig into the huge data sets I have on suicide and use the resources at the U to look at post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and how it intersects with suicide. PTSD is complex – it's many different sequelae of real and perceived traumatic events." Dr. Blacker completed her general psychiatric residency and a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. A native of the United Kingdom, she completed MRCP Part 1 (Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians) at the Royal College of Physicians in London. Dr. Blacker earned her BMBCh (the equivalent of an MD) in medicine and surgery, and her Master of Arts and undergraduate degree in physiological sciences at Oxford University.She brings a wide range of experience to her work. "I have had broad exposure to all kinds of medical settings, from urban to rural, and to all kinds of socioeconomic groups," she said. "It helps me understand where a lot of people are coming from." Of the 18 articles that Dr. Blacker has had published in medical journals, she was first or senior author for 10. In addition, she has presented her work during several national and international medical meetings.When she has some spare time, she enjoys biking along Minneapolis parkways, working on home improvement projects, reading, and cooking.

Research Summary

Dr. Blacker's research interests include mood and anxiety disorders in medical-surgical populations, and suicide among medical professionals. Being part of a much larger institution that has many disciplines – and the opportunities that creates for doing cross-disciplinary work – is exciting to Blacker. "A lot of what I do is historical, looking at trends over time, how concepts have changed, how treatment has changed," she said. "Having access to specialists in history and statistics will really help move my research along." Dr. Blacker was co-investigator for three research grants, one looking at developing biomarkers that would lead to individualized treatments in bipolar patients with and without comorbid addiction; another used EEG to identify potential markers of suicidal behaviors in children between age 13-18; another examined biochemical and genetic differences in mood disorders.

Bio

I received a BA in child psychology here at the University of Minnesota. I received my MS from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where I also completed my PhD, both in clinical psychology. My clinical psychology internship was at Duke University Medical Center.I am a clinical psychologist with extensive experience as a service provider, supervisor, and researcher in mental health. My work over the past 30 years has also emphasized developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative mental health programs utilizing an implementation science approach. In addition, through a University of Minnesota consulting contract, I am concurrently the Chief Clinical Scientist for Praestan Health where I guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative behavioral health models that are supported by digital technologies and applied in real-world practice settings. I have published peer-reviewed journal articles with many as either first or last author, and written several books about youth mental health, effective intervention methods, and evidence-based practice. With 39 publications, 1224 citations and an h-index score of 14, my research and books have been widely disseminated.

Research Summary

Dr. Bloomquist has accumulated many years of research experience in collaboration with a team of prevention and intervention scientists. This included (1) evaluating the short- and long-term effects of school/community/clinic-based interventions for children with behavior and emotional disorders, (2) examining predictive variables and facilitative strategies related to parents engaging in prevention programming, (3) delineating and studying methods for enhancing and measuring program implementation in real world settings, (4) examining mediators and moderators of response to prevention programming, and (5) delineating child and parenting characteristics related to behavior disorders in children. His current research is examining youth and family stress associated with adolescent depression and translating and evaluating evidence-based mental health programming for use in real world health settings.

Clinical Summary

Dr. Bloomquist provides program consultation for intensive outpatient programming services for adolescent depression. He specializes in parent and family skills training (a.k.a. behavioral family therapy) for youth with behavior-emotional problems. As an author/co-author of several books, Dr. Bloomquist has written about effective intervention methods and evidence-based practice.

Clinical Summary

Addiction; Schizophrenia

Clinical Summary

Psychosomatic medicine; Delirium management

Bio

Dr. Mo Chen is the Manager of the Non-invasive Neuromodulation Laboratory and a Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. He obtained his B.S and PhD degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Zhejiang University and finished Postdoctoral research training in the Brain Plasticity Laboratory at University of Minnesota. His research interests are 1. investigating the mechanism and effectiveness of non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), repetitive TMS (rTMS), transcranial current stimulation (tDCS, tACS, tRNS, tPCS), paired associative stimulation (PAS).. etc. 2. Combining neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance image, fMRI, resting-state fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging, DTI) and neuromodulation techniques to investigate pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders, e.g. Focal Dystonia, Spasmodic Dysphonia and Stroke. 3. Using neuromodulation techniques as a treatment to neurological or psychiatric disorders.

Bio

I received my BA in psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, graduating summa cum laude, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2010. I completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. My fellowship in child mental health was supported by a T32, and subsequently F32, National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Prior to joining the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty, I was an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown Medical School and a Psychologist at Rhode Island Hospital and Bradley Hospital.My research and clinical expertise is in the area of neurodevelopmental disorders, with an emphasis on Tourette Syndrome, obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, and anxiety disorders. I am Co-Director of the Converging Approaches to Neurodevelopment (CAN) Lab, a research group that focuses on studying the causes and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. Our research integrates behavioral and neuroscience methods, including neuromodulation and brain imaging. Currently, I have a particular interest in studying the use of neuromodulation to augment evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapies. I have close to 60 publications, 1419 citations and an h-index score of 22. I have also presented nationally and internationally at more than 100 conferences.Within the department,I am the Clinician Researcher Lead for the Integration of Clinical & Research Activities . Within the university, I am the Director of the Non-Invasive Neuromodulation Laboratory at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.

Research Summary

Dr. Conelea's research focuses on the etiology and treatment of Tourette Syndrome and other tic disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and anxiety disorders. She is particularly interested in understanding how the brain, environment, and psychosocial factors interact to impact symptoms and treatment outcome. Dr. Conelea's research integrates behavioral and neuroscience methods, including neuromodulation and brain imaging. Additional interests include therapeutic process and mechanism of change in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Clinical Summary

Tourette Syndrome; tic disorders; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; anxiety disorders; cognitive-behavioral therapy

Bio

Dr. Cullen is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division at the University of Minnesota. She completed all of her medical and research training at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Cullen leads an NIH-funded research team examining the neurodevelopmental underpinnings of depression, self-injury and suicide risk in adolescents and young adults, and investigating interventions aimed at promoting healthy trajectories in these youth.

Research Summary

Dr. Cullen's research primarily focuses on depression and self-injury in adolescents. Her research approaches include the use of brain imaging to examine the biology of depression and self-harm, elucidate the mechanisms of existing treatments, and develop novel treatments.

Research Summary

Neuroimaging Psychopathology Traumatic Brain Injury Neuropsychology