Lab Members

Kerry J. Ressler, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Chief Scientific Officer, McLean Hospital
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Email | Pubmed | ResearchGate | GoogleScholar
Kerry J. Ressler, MD, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer and James and Patricia Poitras Chair in Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, after serving at Emory University for 18 years. He is also a professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and president-elect for the Society for Biological Psychiatry. Dr. Ressler was previously an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). Dr. Ressler’s lab focuses on translational research bridging molecular neurobiology in animal models with human genetic research on emotion, particularly fear and anxiety disorders. He has published over 225 manuscripts ranging from basic molecular mechanisms of fear processing to understanding how emotion is encoded in a region of the brain called the amygdala, in both animal models and human patients.

Instructors

Olga Y. Ponomareva, MD, PhD
Pubmed
Olga is an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ressler Lab, and a fellow in the Neuropsychiatry Translational Research Fellowship at the VA Boston Healthcare System. She is interested in sex-specific differences in the molecular mechanisms of fear circuitry. Olga graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Biology and BA in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University. She completed medical training as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and her graduate work in neuroscience in the laboratory of Dr. Mary Halloran, during which time she was supported by an F31 NRSA grant. Olga completed psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt Psychiatry Residency Training Program, where she served as chief resident of Psychiatric Emergency Services.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Robert Aukema, PhD
Email | GoogleScholar | PubMed
Rob is a postdoctoral researcher in the Ressler lab where he is interested in studying the anatomy and function of the basolateral amygdala. In particular, he is interested in understanding the molecular identity of stress-responsive neurons and how prior stress exposure can influence the development of enhanced or persistent fear memory. He is grateful for the Jonathan Edward Brooking Mental Health Research Scholar Award for supporting his training. Rob earned his undergraduate (B.Sc.) at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where he was first introduced to neuroscience working in Dr. Alfonso Abizaid’s lab studying the role of ghrelin on stress-related behaviours and metabolism. Rob then did his PhD training in Dr. Matthew Hill’s laboratory at the University of Calgary, Canada, where he studied the spatial, temporal, and circuit-specific patterns of activation of basolateral amygdala neurons during exposure to stress.

Leland L. Fleming, PhD
GoogleScholar
Leland is a postdoctoral researcher and NIH F99/K00 fellow in the Ressler Lab where he examines the enduring impact of stress-related disorders on brain structure and function. Leland earned his B.S. in Neuroscience from Baylor University. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with focus in Neuroscience from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Leland's graduate work focused on using neuroimaging approaches to understand adult cortical plasticity following central vision loss in patients with macular degeneration. As a postdoctoral fellow, Leland continues to explore cortical plasticity of sensory systems in the context of development and stress-related disorders through a combination of human neuroimaging and bioinformatics approaches. His current work is supported through the NIH Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) Award.

Matthew Kearney, MD, PhD
GoogleScholar
Matt is an instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ressler Lab, and a fellow in the T32 Training to Enhance Alignment of Psychiatry and Neuroscience program at McLean Hospital. He is interested in understanding the role of sleep and neuromodulators in fear memory consolidation. Matt graduated from the University of Chicago with an AB in the Biological Sciences and Psychology and a minor in computational neuroscience. He received his MD and PhD from the Duke University School of Medicine where he completed his thesis work on reinforcement learning in songbirds in the laboratory of Richard Mooney. During graduate school, he was supported by an F30 NRSA award from the NINDS. Matt completed his psychiatry residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency training program where he served as an administrative chief resident. During residency, he received the Outstanding Resident Award from the NIMH and participated in the APA Research Colloquium for Junior Psychiatrist Investigators. Outside of the lab, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, hiking, and basketball!

Doctoral Trainees

Zoe Beatty
Pubmed
Zoe is a PhD student in the Program in Neuroscience (PiN) at Harvard University and is conducting her thesis research in the Ressler Lab. She is interested in studying the role of neuropeptides in fear responding, as well as how neuropeptide systems are impacted by early life chronic stress. Zoe earned her undergraduate degree (B.S.) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she worked in Dr. Henry Lester’s lab engineering biosensors to detect drugs that act on the central nervous system.

Malvina Millet
Google Scholar
Malvina is a Ph.D. student in the Ressler lab, co-supervised by Prof. Kerry J. Ressler, Prof. Nikolaos P. Daskalakis and Prof Freddy Jeanneteau (University of Montpellier, France). Her research is supported by Dr. Chris Palmer Metabolic and Mental Health Program (MMHP). She is interested in understanding how adverse childhood experiences that lead to anxiety disorders in adulthood can be modulated through dietary interventions. Specifically, she uses a multi-omic approach to explore the metabolic and transcriptomic mechanisms that link nutrition to psychiatric outcomes. Malvina earned her Master’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Aix-Marseille, France, and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition and Psychology from the University of Lyon, France, both awarded with honours. During her Master’s, she received AMIDEX European grant to conduct her research training in Finland at the University of Helsinki, under the supervision of Prof. Iris Hovatta, where she worked on a PTSD gene candidate. Her academic path has been shaped by interdisciplinary training at the intersection of psychiatry, nutrition, and systems biology.

Senior Laboratory Management

Claudia Klengel, MD
Laboratory Manager
Pubmed | ResearchGate
Claudia is the lab manager and responsible for managing the daily operations of the Ressler Lab. She received her MD from the Technical University of Munich, Germany and started her residency in anesthesia at the Rotkreuzklinikum in Munich. After moving to the United States, she joined the Ressler Lab at Emory University, in Atlanta as a Research Technician. In her current role as the lab manager of the Ressler at McLean Hospital, in Belmont, she takes responsibility of financial, technical, organizational and safety-related aspects of the lab. She utilizes her diverse technical skills spanning molecular biology, rodent behavioral work and clinical biomarkers experience in multiple translational research projects of the lab and in the McLean Hospital branch of the Partners HealthCare Biobank.

Research Assistants

Paloma Martinez Gonzalez
Pubmed
Paloma is a technical research assistant at the Neurobiology of Fear Laboratory where she assists in projects that look at preclinical models of PTSD and associated cellular changes in specific brain regions using methods in immunohistochemistry, fear learning, and fear conditioning. In 2024, Paloma graduated from Wheaton College (MA) with a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience and a minor in chemistry.

Nicola Sharp
Nicola is a Clinical Research Assistant under the mentorship of Dr Mohammad S.E. Sendi. In the Ressler Lab, her work focuses on computational analysis of EEG signals in patients with PTSD as they go through Written Exposure Therapy. During her time as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford (’23), her research project focused on novel approaches to unsupervised machine learning analysis of astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease. She later graduated from Harvard Medical School with a Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health (’24), where she interviewed researchers on their experiences studying stigmatized healthcare topics, whilst interning part-time on a McLean study on adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Outside of her research, she has been an avid campaigner against sexual violence. Her goal is to restore autonomy and agency to people who have experienced trauma or neurological disease.

Anne Graber
Anne is a Clinical Research Assistant in the Ressler Neurobiology of Fear Lab and is embedded on Short-Term Unit 1 North. She administers clinical self-assessments through the Clinical Measurement Initiative, conducts pre- and post-treatment study assessments for Rapid Reversal of Suicidal Depression: Comparative Effectiveness of ECT vs. Ketamine Over the Lifespan (REaKT), and coordinates inpatient participant recruitment and blood sample collection and processing for the Mass General Brigham Biobank. She also recruits participants, assists with data management, and obtains informed consent for the NIMH-funded study, Trajectories of Risk and Cognitive Change in Mental Health (TRACC-MH). Prior to her current role, Anne served as a Research Intern at Englishton Park, a nonprofit summer learning camp serving children with diverse academic, emotional, and behavioral needs. She graduated from Hanover College in 2024 with a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science.

Annah Rossvall
Annah is a Clinical Research Assistant in the Ressler Neurobiology of Fear Lab, where she serves as Project Manager for the NIMH-funded Trajectories of Risk and Cognitive Change in Mental Health (TRACC-MH) study within the IMPACT-MH consortium. Her work focuses on understanding cognitive and clinical trajectories across diverse psychiatric populations using ecological momentary assessments (EMAs), digital phenotyping, and passive data sensing. In her role, she oversees study operations, recruitment, data quality and management, and regulatory activities. Annah also helps to support all other studies across the lab. Previously, she worked with Drs. Matthew Nock, Rebecca Fortgang, and Kate Bentley at Harvard University on the Micro-randomized Trial to Assess Brief Just-in-Time Interventions for Reducing Short-Term Suicide Risk (ASSIST) and Real-Time Assessment of Suicidal Thoughts Among Psychiatric Inpatients (MOMENT) studies. Annah graduated from Colby College in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology, with a concentration in Neuroscience. Her research interests center on understanding the mechanisms and heterogeneity of anxiety and depressive disorders through a transdiagnostic and mixed-methods approach. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with her 2 cats, baking, and running!

Lilikoi Bronson
Lilikoi Bronson is a Clinical Research Assistant in the clinical side of the Ressler Lab, embedded on inpatient unit North Belknap 1 and providing a bridge between clinical staff and research studies. She manages and coordinates for the Rapid Reversal of Suicidal Depression: Comparative Effectiveness of ECT vs. Ketamine Over the Lifespan (REaKT) study which randomizes patients to either ECT or IV Ketamine treatment to treat suicidal depression and follows them throughout the course of treatment by identifying and consenting participants, maintaining regulatory framework, conducting assessments, and managing data. As well, she coordinates and manages the Mass General Brigham Biobank McLean site by obtaining informed consent to patients as well as collecting, processing, and shipping blood samples. She is involved in the Clinical Measurement Initiative (CMI) by administering self-assessments to inpatients at admission and discharge. Lastly, she assists with the NIMH-funded study, Trajectories of Risk and Cognitive Change in Mental Health (TRACC-MH) by identifying eligible patients, obtaining informed consent, and collecting data. Previously, she was involved in the Psychometrics at McLean (PAM) study which collected MRI, EEG, actigraphy, video interviews, blood samples, neuropsych testing, and REDCap self-assessments from participants recruited from inpatient units, as well as the Dayton Project and the GenOCD study. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience.

Lucy Grossbard
Lucy is a Clinical Research Assistant in the Ressler Neurobiology of Fear Lab and is embedded on Short-Term Unit 1 South. She helps coordinate the NIMH-funded Trajectories of Risk and Cognitive Change in Mental Health (TRACC-MH) study, which primarily involves study administration, participant recruitment, obtaining informed consent, and data management. She also recruits participants, obtains consent, and collects blood samples for the Mass General Brigham Biobank. Additionally, she administers clinical assessments to patients through the Clinical Measures Initiative. Whenever possible, she also assists with the Rapid Reversal of Suicidal Depression study, completing pre- and post-treatment assessments of suicidal ideation. Lucy graduated from Williams College in 2023 with a Bachelor's in Psychology and English. Prior to working in the Ressler Lab, she completed two years as a milieu counselor at the Gunderson Residence, a program for people who have been diagnosed with personality disorders. More broadly, she is interested in personality pathology, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis (particularly, countertransference and psychotherapy process). Outside of work, she plays ultimate frisbee, enjoys thru-hiking, goes for runs, makes art, spends time with friends, and reads lots of books!