Faculty

Bio

I received my BA in Psychology from the University of Nebraska, graduating Magna Cum Laude. I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Missouri, and my Clinical Psychology Internship from the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute.I am a Professor of Psychiatry who studies the association of addiction and comorbid psychiatric disorders. My current research, funded by NIAAA, focuses on developing and testing cognitive behavioral treatments that can improve the alcohol use disorder treatment outcomes for individuals with co-occurring anxiety and depressive disorders. My research has also explored the epidemiology, causes, course and treatment of co-occurring disorders ("comorbidity"). To date, I have 88 publications, 4470 citations, and an h-index of 35.I am the Program Director of P3, an intensive 10-session grant writing program for Assistant Professors in the University's Medical School. I am the Program Director of the NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Training Program focused on Comorbidity between Substance Abuse and Mental Illness. I am also Director of the Cognitive-Behavioral Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

Research Summary

Internalizing psychopathology (anxiety disorders and depressive disorders) co-occurring with substance abuse disorders (especially alcohol dependence). My research has explored the, epidemiology, causes, course and treatment of co-occurring disorders ("comorbidity").

Clinical Summary

Behavioral and cognitive therapies for anxiety disorders, especially obsessive compulsive disorder

Bio

I am a child and adolescent clinical psychologist licensed in both Minnesota and North Dakota. I completed my B.S. in Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and my MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Dakota. I completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at the Youth Opportunity Center, a residential treatment facility for youth with serious emotional and behavioral difficulties. In addition, I completed a fellowship in clinical child psychology at the University of Minnesota with a focus on development and implementation of evidence-based intensive outpatient programs for adolescents with depression and children with disruptive behavior disorders.My training and experience have focused on providing evidence-based assessment and interventions with children and adolescents in a variety of settings including schools, community mental health, intensive outpatient programs, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment. Primary treatment modalities are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).At MIDB (Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain), I work with youth (and their families) who have severe emotion regulation issues, which lead to impulsive behaviors such as suicidal behavior or self-harm. I also provide individual, family, and group therapy for adolescents with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD.My primary goal is to help strengthen the DBT program for adolescents and families. I aim to improve implementation and assessment of treatment outcomes and to work to disseminate DBT for adolescents more widely. As part of my position, I am involved in supervision of future clinicians and plan to be involved in research related to treatment outcomes and interpersonal factors that influence youth depression, suicidal ideation, and self-injurious behavior.

Research Summary

She has experience in designing and implementing several funded and non-funded research projects primarily in the area of combat trauma exposure and PTSD. Additional research interests include: adult attachment styles, tobacco cessation, quality of life, treatment satisfaction and road rage/driving interventions.

Clinical Summary

Dr. Leskela has clinical experience in psychotherapy with both children and adults with trauma exposure. Her areas of clinical specialty include posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, dialectical behavioral therapy, couple and family therapy, narrative therapy, and supervision.

Bio

I obtained a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology from Rice University in 2005, followed by my Doctor of Medicine from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 2010. I completed clinical training in Psychiatry (2014) and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2016) at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, where I twice served as Chief Resident. I then undertook a two-year clinical research fellowship, the Clinician-Investigator Training Program, with a focus on neuromodulation in adolescent mood disorders and suicidal behavior. I joined the University of Minnesota Medical School faculty in 2019.My research focuses on the neurobiological correlates of suicidal behavior in adolescents with mood disorders, with the aims of improving risk assessment and identifying novel treatment approaches. I am also involved in ongoing projects utilizing noninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive TMS, theta burst stimulation, and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), as treatment interventions for children and adolescents with depression. I am also the recipient of a 2018 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, which will support my work in studying state-dependent impairment in cortical inhibition and network connectivity in adolescents with suicidal behavior.I have also presented both nationally and internationally at over 35 conferences.

Research Summary

Dr. Lewis' research focuses on the neurobiological correlates of suicidal behavior in adolescents with mood disorders, with the aims of improving risk assessment and identifying novel treatment approaches. His previous work has found impaired cortical inhibition, measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and alterations in excitatory neurotransmitter levels, measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, in youth with suicidal behavior. Dr. Lewis is also involved in ongoing projects utilizing noninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive TMS, theta burst stimulation, and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), as treatment interventions for children and adolescents with depression. 

Bio

I hold the Drs. T. J. and Ella M. Arneson Land-Grant Chair in Human Behavior at the University of Minnesota where I am a Professor of Psychiatry and Director for Adult Mental Health Research. I began my undergraduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, completing my Bachelor and MD degrees at Johns Hopkins University. I completed a psychiatry residency and fellowship in neuroimaging at Stanford University where he also served on the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry. I joined the University of Minnesota in 2001.My research interest is in the use of neuroimaging approaches to identify circuit abnormalities in brain disorders such as schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury and addiction and then to use these circuits as treatment targets for noninvasive neuromodulation interventions. I have over 300 publications, with many as first or last author, 23,000 citations, and an h-index of 87.In 2020, I was awarded the "Dean's Distinguished Lectureship Award" for reaching more than 1,000 citations of a 1994 paper that I helped author titled, A Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Changes in Brain Morphology from Infancy to Late Adulthood . The paper is cited as evidence that MRI can be used to measure the living human brain.Within the university, I am a member of the Medical School Research Council , and KL2 Seminar Director for the Clinical and Translational Scientific Institute (CTSI).

Research Summary

Dr. Lim's research interest is in the use of neuroimaging approaches to identify circuit abnormalities in brain disorders such as schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury and addiction and then to use these circuits as treatment targets for noninvasive neuromodulation interventions.