Gretchen Hermes, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of PsychiatryCards
Appointments
Additional Titles
Medical Director, APT Foundation
Chief Psychiatrist, Yale Stress Center
Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Coordinator, APT Foundation
Contact Info
Psychiatry
2 Church St S
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Medical Director, APT Foundation
Chief Psychiatrist, Yale Stress Center
Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Coordinator, APT Foundation
Contact Info
Psychiatry
2 Church St S
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Medical Director, APT Foundation
Chief Psychiatrist, Yale Stress Center
Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Coordinator, APT Foundation
Contact Info
Psychiatry
2 Church St S
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
About
Titles
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Medical Director, APT Foundation; Chief Psychiatrist, Yale Stress Center; Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Coordinator, APT Foundation
Biography
Gretchen Hermes completed her MD/PhD on pre-clinical stress-diathesis models of social neglect at the University of Chicago with Martha K. McClintock PhD, a pioneer in the field of social neuroscience. These developmental models of psychopathology (schizophrenia, depression) laid the foundation for her current research on co-morbid mental illness and addiction. Dr. Hermes entered the Yale Residency in the Neuroscience Research Training Program where she continued work with Ronald Duman PhD on preclinical models of social neglect and currently is engaged as a co-investigator at the Yale Stress Center working with Rajita Sinha, PhD, on research protocols related to effects of adrenergic receptor agonists on drug craving and withdrawal as well as large cohort studies on the long-ranging effects of early life trauma vs. acute stress. Dr. Hermes has ongoing collaborative research with the Section of Comparative Medicine and the Yale Depression Research Program on the role of mitochondrial proteins in facilitating synaptic neurotransmission, representing a potential paradigm shift toward a role for energy and biogenesis in mental illness.
While at the University of Chicago, Dr. Hermes completed post-doctoral work in infectious disease. This preclinical work on the memory and mood effects of ‘quiescent’ forms Toxoplasma gondii with Rima McLeod, MD, a world leading authority on Toxoplasmosis, paved the way for nearly a decade of service as the Behavioral Health Director and psychiatry attending at AIDS Project New Haven (APNH). While at APNH, through symposia, clinical rounds, and data collection, Dr. Hermes supported clinical efforts to address neurocognitive decline in members of the New Haven community living with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Hermes established and co-teaches the Neurobiology of Addiction course for Psychiatry and Medicine Addiction fellows at Yale. She is the site director of the Addiction Psychiatry fellowship at the APT Foundation.
Prior to medical and research training, Dr. Hermes worked as a writer and multimedia producer at the Smithsonian Institution collaborating with Apple Computer, Lucas Film and Discovery Channel on the award winning interactive educational program on the discovery of DNA, Life Story, which Wired magazine identified as seminal in the development of multimedia. Dr. Hermes was a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School completing field work in northern Ethiopia on early syncretistic expressions of Christianity and Judaism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church at Lalibela. In addition, Dr. Hermes has completed psychoanalytic training at the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis and maintains active interest in core psychoanalytic principles as they relate to addiction including trauma, attachment, and mourning; struggles with anxiety and embittered hope; the harshness of lost containers and lost thinking. She reflects often on ethical approaches to addiction treatment and on Dorothy Day’s theology of hospitality and human dignity.
Appointments
Psychiatry
Associate Professor on TermPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Research Fellowship, Schizophrenia
- Yale University (2013)
- Residency
- Yale University (2011)
- MD
- University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (2007)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH, Interdisciplinary Program in Immunology
- University of Chicago (2005)
- PhD
- University of Chicago (2003)
- MA
- Harvard Divinity School (1997)
Research
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Rajita Sinha, PhD
Tamas Horvath, DVM, PhD
Verica Milivojevic, PhD
Catharine Duman, PhD
Dongju Seo, PhD
Gerard Sanacora, PhD, MD
Publications
2023
Chronic use of benzodiazepines: The problem that persists
Louie D, Jegede O, Hermes G. Chronic use of benzodiazepines: The problem that persists. The International Journal Of Psychiatry In Medicine 2023, 58: 426-432. PMID: 36972700, DOI: 10.1177/00912174231166252.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and Concepts
2022
Martha K. McClintock
Hermes G. Martha K. McClintock. 2022, 359-383. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-12970-4_36.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsPregnenolone effects on provoked alcohol craving, anxiety, HPA axis, and autonomic arousal in individuals with alcohol use disorder
Milivojevic V, Sullivan L, Tiber J, Fogelman N, Simpson C, Hermes G, Sinha R. Pregnenolone effects on provoked alcohol craving, anxiety, HPA axis, and autonomic arousal in individuals with alcohol use disorder. Psychopharmacology 2022, 240: 101-114. PMID: 36445398, PMCID: PMC10630889, DOI: 10.1007/s00213-022-06278-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAlcohol use disorderDiastolic blood pressureHeart rateGABAergic transmissionNeuroactive steroidsHPA axisRelapse riskUse disordersAlcohol cravingTreatment of AUDAlcohol cue-induced cravingPilot clinical trialStress-induced anxietyCue-induced cravingAutonomic arousalNeurosteroid systemPreg groupStudy drugDBP responseBlood pressureDay groupClinical trialsPregnenolone levelsWeek 2Cue-provoked cravingPregnenolone Reduces Stress-Induced Craving, Anxiety, and Autonomic Arousal in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder
Milivojevic V, Charron L, Fogelman N, Hermes G, Sinha R. Pregnenolone Reduces Stress-Induced Craving, Anxiety, and Autonomic Arousal in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder. Biomolecules 2022, 12: 1593. PMID: 36358943, PMCID: PMC9687893, DOI: 10.3390/biom12111593.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsDiastolic blood pressureCocaine use disorderHeart ratePrecursor pregnenoloneUse disordersCocaine cravingCue-induced cocaine cravingCue-induced anxietyWeeks of treatmentCue-induced cravingAutonomic arousalChronic cocaine usePreg groupBlood pressureDay groupRelapse riskHigher cocainePregnenolone levelsCue-provoked cravingSeparate daysAutonomic responsesCocaine useTreatment-seeking individualsCravingSteroid systems
2018
98. Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Neural and Biobehavioral Biomarkers of Relapse and Recovery in Substance Use Disorders
Sinha R, Seo D, Lacadie C, Constable T, Hermes G. 98. Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Neural and Biobehavioral Biomarkers of Relapse and Recovery in Substance Use Disorders. Biological Psychiatry 2018, 83: s40. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.02.116.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitations
2016
Ketamine’s Mechanisms of Rapid Antidepressant Activity: Evidence from Preclinical Studies
Hermes G, Sanacora G. Ketamine’s Mechanisms of Rapid Antidepressant Activity: Evidence from Preclinical Studies. 2016, 73-98. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-42925-0_6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsAntidepressant activityPreclinical studiesAntidepressant actionKetamine's mechanismPreclinical literatureRodent modelsRapid onsetBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expressionBehavioral effectsClassic antidepressant drugsRapid antidepressant activityNeurotrophic factor expressionChronic stressor exposureReceptor-targeted drugsNovel drug developmentAntidepressant propertiesKetamine effectsClinical trialsAntidepressant drugsSynaptic plasticityReceptor activationClinical settingFactor expressionStressor exposureDurable effectsRole of mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in higher brain functions, neuronal plasticity and network oscillation
Hermes G, Nagy D, Waterson M, Zsarnovszky A, Varela L, Hajos M, Horvath TL. Role of mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) in higher brain functions, neuronal plasticity and network oscillation. Molecular Metabolism 2016, 5: 415-421. PMID: 27257601, PMCID: PMC4877662, DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2016.04.002.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsMouse modelSynaptic plasticityMental illnessUCP2 knockout miceNMDA receptor blockadeHigher brain regionsKO mouse modelMajor psychiatric illnessProtein 2 expressionHigher brain functionsReceptor blockadePsychiatric illnessNeuronal plasticityKnockout miceNeural transmissionCellular resilienceCortical activityBrain regionsProfound disorderBrain functionMitochondrial impairmentIllnessNetwork oscillationsMitochondrial functionProtein 2- Hermes, Gretchen and Gerard Sanacora, "Ketamine’s Mechanism of Rapid Antidepressant Activity: Evidence from Preclinical Studies." In Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression: The First Decade of Progress, eds. Sanjay J. Mathew and Carlos A. Zarate Jr. Springer International Publishing, 2016.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2015
Neural plasticity in hypocretin neurons: the basis of hypocretinergic regulation of physiological and behavioral functions in animals
Gao XB, Hermes G. Neural plasticity in hypocretin neurons: the basis of hypocretinergic regulation of physiological and behavioral functions in animals. Frontiers In Systems Neuroscience 2015, 9: 142. PMID: 26539086, PMCID: PMC4612503, DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00142.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsHypocretin systemNormal physiological functionPhysiological functionsNeural plasticityHypocretin-containing neuronsPF/LHSubstantial plastic changesCritical brain functionsPathological conditionsLong-term behavioral changesHypocretin neuronsLateral hypothalamusDaily functionNeuronal activityPlastic changesLong-term changesPlasticityMental health implicationsNeuronal systemsRecent evidenceBrain functionBehavioral functionsNeural activityHealth implicationsDaily fluctuations
2012
Ucp2 Induced by Natural Birth Regulates Neuronal Differentiation of the Hippocampus and Related Adult Behavior
Simon-Areces J, Dietrich MO, Hermes G, Garcia-Segura LM, Arevalo MA, Horvath TL. Ucp2 Induced by Natural Birth Regulates Neuronal Differentiation of the Hippocampus and Related Adult Behavior. PLOS ONE 2012, 7: e42911. PMID: 22905184, PMCID: PMC3414493, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042911.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsUCP2 expressionCellular stressHippocampal neuronsChemical inhibitionMitochondrial bioenergeticsNeuronal differentiationGenetic ablationNatural birthProtein 2Adult behaviorCell proliferationCritical roleAdult brainNeuronal numberExpressionBioenergeticsNeuronsBirthDifferentiationRegulationProliferationSynaptogenesisVitroNeuroprotectionHippocampus
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
activity California Breast Cancer Research Program; University of California, Office of the President
Peer Review Groups and Grant Study SectionsMemberDetailsPeer Review: Grant submissions in response to an Animal Models Initiative to Investigate Concurrent Effects of Environmental Chemicals and Stress Factors on Mammary Cancer09/01/2016 - Presentactivity Ad Hoc Reviewer
Professional OrganizationsMemberDetailsBrain, Behavior, and Immunity; Frontiers: Schizophrenia, Associate Editor; Neuropharmacology; Neuroendocrinology; Neuroscience Letters; Psychoneuroimmunolgy; Psychiatry Research; Sage OPEN Publications; Schizophrenia Research; Schizophrenia Bulletin2008 - Presentactivity Female Opioid Research and Clinical Experts (FORCE)
Public ServiceMemberDetails06/19/2017 - Presenthonor NARSAD Young Investigator Grant
National AwardBrain and Behavior Research FoundationDetails09/02/2015United Stateshonor Workshop on Schizophrenia and Related Disorders, Travel Award and Stipend
National AwardCold Spring Harbor LaboratoryDetails06/10/2012United States
Clinical Care
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Psychiatry
2 Church St S
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
Locations
Horvath Lab
Lab
Brady Memorial Laboratory
310 Cedar Street, Ste 416
New Haven, CT 06510
Yale Stress Center
Academic Office
Doctors Building
2 Church Street South, Fl 2nd, Ste 208, Rm 209
New Haven, CT 06519
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