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About Us
Learn about our lab members!
Lab Directors
Richard T. Liu is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and licensed clinical psychologist. He is the Director of Suicide Research in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Director of Big Data Studies in the Depression Clinical and Research Program.
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The primary focus of his research is on depression, suicide, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in childhood through emerging adulthood, with a particular emphasis on characterizing dynamic processes of risk underlying onset and recurrence of these clinical concerns. His programmatic interests lie in advancing our understanding of depression, suicide, and NSSI from who is at risk to how and when they are most at risk, thereby directly informing risk assessment strategies and yielding potential candidates for clinical intervention. His work in these and related areas have been published in journals such as Lancet Psychiatry, JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Pediatrics, Psychological Bulletin, and American Psychologist. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science and Behavior Therapy, and he serves as a Consulting Editor at Clinical Psychological Science and the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He has also served on expert panels focused on preadolescent suicide at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Taylor A. Burke is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and licensed clinical psychologist. She is the Director of Pediatric Computational Health and Associate Director of Suicide Research in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The primary aim of Dr. Burke’s research is to advance the prediction and prevention of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) among youth and young adults. Dr. Burke uses novel methodologies and computational approaches to improve the identification of individuals at risk to better intervene and prevent SITBs. She has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the etiology of SITBs and related psychopathology. Dr. Burke holds a five-year NIMH career development award that focuses on using passive mobile sensing, adolescent sleep, and physical activity assessment, and advanced computational approaches to idiographic modeling to develop proximal risk models for increases in suicidal ideation. She also has other ongoing research supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the NIMH focused on leveraging computer vision to enhance suicide risk screening in pediatric health care settings. Her program of research has been nationally recognized for its contribution to child and adolescent psychological science by her receipt of the Future Directions Launch Award by the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
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Faculty
Dr. Amanda Collins
accollins@mgh.harvard.edu
Mass General Research Institute
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Amanda C. Collins is the Director of Digital Phenotyping and Therapeutics Research in the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, and she is a Member of the Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Collins’ research primarily focuses on reward dysfunction as a transdiagnostic mechanism underlying the etiology and maintenance of psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. The two areas of her research focus on: (1) the application of advanced statistical methods to predict changes in psychopathology and (2) the development and testing of both in-person and digital interventions. She is particularly interested in bridging these two areas of research by using advanced methods to understand what interventions work best and for whom, with the overall goal of developing more personalized interventions to treat reward dysfunction transdiagnostically. Dr. Collins utilizes a multimodal approach, including self-reports, experimental paradigms, ecological momentary assessments, and passive sensing, to investigate the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of psychopathology. She also has extensive experience with longitudinal data analysis, including multilevel and time-varying vector autoregressive modeling, mixed-effects modeling, network analysis, and machine learning to investigate how reward dysfunction changes over time and influences the course, severity, and treatment of psychopathology. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to develop and evaluate digital interventions for co-occurring disorders.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Yeonsoo Park is a postdoctoral fellow at MABL. He is interested in the biopsychosocial risk factors related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors and has been recently examining how basic cognitive functions may influence decision-making in suicide. Yeonsoo earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame, where he studied proximal risk factors of suicidality using ecological momentary assessment and stigma surrounding disclosure of self-harm under the mentorship of Dr. Brooke Ammerman. Yeonsoo completed his clinical internship at McLean Hospital and has been trained in CBT, ACT, and DBT. Prior to completing his doctorate, Yeonsoo earned his MA in counseling and clinical psychology from Sogang University in South Korea, and his BA in psychology from New York University.
Clinical Psychology Interns
Ana Sheehan
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Ana's research explores short-term factors associated with risk for suicide including daily fluctuations in impulsivity and mood, particularly in the context of parent-adolescent dyadic relationships. In addition, Ana’s work places an emphasis on understanding trends and risk for suicide among traditionally underserved populations. Ana is in her final year of her PhD program at the University of Delaware under the mentorship of Naomi Sadeh and is currently completing her clinical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School within the child track. Ana’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and she is a PEO Scholar Awardee.
Rachel Walsh
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Rachel is currently completing her predoctoral clinical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She is a sixth-year doctoral student at Temple University, where she worked in the Mood and Cognition Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Lauren Alloy. Her research seeks to improve our understanding of risk factors for mood disorders and particularly suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Specifically, Rachel is interested in the intersection of sleep, circadian rhythms, and mood symptoms, examining whether disturbances in sleep and circadian rhythms contribute to the development of depression and suicidal ideation. Rachel’s program of research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the PEO Scholar Award. She has received training in CBT, DBT, and attachment-based family therapy (ABFT). Rachel has completed clinical practicums in pediatric behavioral sleep medicine and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Rachel earned her bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and completed post-baccalaureate research assistantships at the National Institute of Mental Health and Brown University.
Clinical Research Coordinators
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Grace Ding
Grace (she/her) graduated from Columbia University in 2021 with a major in Psychology and concentration in Business Management. Before joining MABL, Grace worked on clinical trials for adult depression at the Depression Clinical & Research Program at MGH. In her free time, Grace enjoys going on walks, journaling, and spending time with friends and family.
Devika Goel
Devika (she/her) joined the Mood and Behavior Lab in 2024 after graduating from Williams College. She is interested in exploring how social determinants of health influence trajectories of risk and resilience in adolescents. She hopes to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology and work with at-risk marginalized children and adolescents as a researcher and clinician. In her free time, she enjoys running, listening to podcasts, and experimenting with graphic design.
Ethan Weires
Ethan (he/him) joined the Mood and Behavior Lab in 2024, after receiving a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Iowa. He is most interested in studying suicide and associated experiences by exploiting descriptive features of risk, utilizing ambulatory assessment, and analyzing salient risk and protective factors. Ethan hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and to operate in both clinical science and practice. In his free time, he enjoys training jiu jitsu, reading, and spending time with his nephew.
Lab Volunteers
Ellen Modlin
Michael Kuo
Ellen (she/her) joined the Mood and Behavior Lab during her third year at Northeastern University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience. She is passionate about adolescent mental health and has volunteered with the Trevor Project in the past. She hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology after gaining more research experience. In her free time, she likes to read, paint portraits, and spend time with her cat Margot.
Michael (he/him) joined the Mood and Behaviour Lab during his first year at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, where he is pursuing a master's degree in Mental Health Counselling and Behavioural Medicine. Michael earned his Honours Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto, St. George. He is most interested in studying the neuro-mechanism of mood disorder and the efficacy of various psychotherapeutic interventions in decreasing suicidal ideation and behaviour. In the future, he anticipates pursuing a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology. In his free time, he enjoys working out, reformer pilates, and travelling!
Niharika Shukla
Niharika Shukla (she/her) is a student at Cumberland Valley High School and joined the Mood and Behavior Lab in 2024. She is passionate about mental health and making support accessible through research and legislative advocacy. Niharika is currently working as a Youth Advisor to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on youth mental health and a research intern at Columbia University's Psych Lab, working on providing medical treatment for patients with anxiety and depression. Niharika co-wrote and passed the official Teen Mental Health Proclamation passed statewide in both Pennsylvania and Cumberland County. In her free time, she enjoys photography, listening to music, and drink iced chai lattes.
Deano Izaguirre
Deano is currently an undergraduate psychology concentrator at Harvard College, who joined the Mood and Behavior Lab in 2025. Deeply passionate about psychopathology, more specifically in the realm of mood and anxiety disorders. He plans to pursue a postgraduate degree in clinical psychology with the intention of opening his own clinic and learning more about these conditions and their treatment. In his free time, Deano likes to read, write, listen to music, watch movies, and spend time in nature.
Ella Chase
Ella (she/her) joined the Mood and Behavior Lab during her third-year at Brandeis University, where she is pursuing a B.A. in Psychology and Health: Science, Society, and Policy (HSSP), with a minor in Journalism. She is passionate about mental health and is particularly interested in lifespan development, with a focus on child and adolescent populations. Ella currently assists behavioral health research on harm reduction, volunteers with the Crisis Text Line, and serves as a research assistant in the Child and Adolescent Research in Development (CARD) Lab at Brandeis. She enjoys learning about psychological theories and writing about research in ways that communicate and connect important findings. In addition to her research interests, Ella writes and edits articles on campus news and events as a deputy editor for the Brandeis Hoot. Ella plans to pursue a doctorate in psychology. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, trying new restaurants, and watching crime documentaries.
Lab Alumni & Former Mentees
Predoctoral Interns & Postdoctoral Fellows
Madelaine Abel, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School)
Alexandra Bettis, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
Taylor Burke, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School)
Christine Cha, Ph.D. (Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine)
Adrianna Crossing, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Northeastern University)
Hannah Lawrence, Ph.D. (Google)
Naoise Mac Giollabhui, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School)
Stephanie Jarvi Steele, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor at Smith College)
Clinical Research Coordinators & Undergraduate Honors Students
Doga Cetinkaya (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at Southern Methodist University; graduate mentor: Alicia Meuret)
Shayna Cheek (Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University; graduate mentor: David Goldston)
Nimesha Gerlus (M.D.-Ph.D. student in cognitive neuroscience at Duke University; graduate mentor: Kevin LaBar)
Evelyn Hernandez (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at University of Rhode Island; graduate mentor: Hector Lopez-Vergara)
Jesús Hernández (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at George Mason University; graduate mentor: Natasha Tonge)
Sunday Hull (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at Old Dominion University; graduate mentor: Cassie Glenn)
Eva Kuzyk (Ph.D. student in neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
Rachel Levin (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at University of Rochester; graduate mentors: Liz Handley and Sheree Toth)
Katie Lord (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at University of California - Irvine; graduate mentor: Jessica Borelli)
Carly Maitlin (PsyD student in clinical psychology at Yeshiva University)
Maya Massing Schaffer (Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill; graduate mentor: Mitch Prinstein)
Bridget Nestor (Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University; graduate mentor: Judy Garber)
Julianne Origlio (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at Case Western Reserve University; graduate mentor: Amy Przeworski)
Christina Sanzari (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at SUNY Albany; graduate mentor: Julie Hormes)
Katie Scopelliti (Psy.D. in clinical psychology from George Washington University)
Ana Sheehan (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at University of Delaware; graduate mentor: Naomi Sadeh)
Zoë Trout (Psy.D. in clinical psychology at Baylor University)
Margarid Turnamian (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at University of Southern California; graduate mentor: Jon Stange)
Rachel Walsh (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology Temple University; graduate mentor: Lauren Alloy)
Anna Workman (Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at City College of New York)