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OCD Research Clinic
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INFORMATION FOR

People

Faculty

  • Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD

    Director

    Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry; Deputy Chair for Translational Research, Psychiatry; Director, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Psychiatry; Director, Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, Psychiatry; Director, Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Yale School of Medicine; Director, Yale OCD Research Clinic, Psychiatry; Director, Neuroscience Research Training Program, Yale Department of Psychiatry

    Research Interests
    • Basal Ganglia Diseases
    • Tourette Syndrome
    • Learning
    • Molecular Biology
    • Neuroanatomy
    • Neurobiology
    • Neurophysiology
    • Neurosciences
    • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
    • Phobic Disorders
    • Psychopharmacology
    • Trichotillomania
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Staff

  • Eileen Billingslea, MA

    Research Associate Psychiatry; Yale OCD Research Clinic Coordinator, Psychiatry

    Eileen Billingslea has a long history of involvement with research programs in the Yale School of Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry, serving as a research associate and coordinator since 1998.  She has been with the Yale OCD Research Clinic since 2008, coordinating clinic research activities across departments. She helps guide new staff, PGAs and research assistants toward an awareness of good clinical practices and collaboration, ensures training and compliance, and acts as clinic resource. Eileen manages research studies, patient data and documentation, cash administration, human research protection concerns and HIC - IRB submissions. She supervises other aspects of the clinic’s day-to-day functioning.
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  • Madison Fitzpatrick

    Research Assistant 1 HSS

    Madison Fitzpatrick, BA, has been working in Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders (OCRD) research for the past 3 years. Prior to her employment at the Yale OCD Clinic, she worked under Dr. Fugen Neziroglu at the Bio Behavioral Institute, an intensive outpatient treatment center for OCRDs. She began working there as a research assistant in 2019 and worked her way up to clinical trial research in early 2020. She graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Psychology, minoring in Neuroscience, in December 2020. In her final semester, she received a grant from Hofstra University to continue conducting research at the Bio Behavioral Institute, titled the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Transformative Learning Grant. She also received the departmental award for Academic Excellence in Psychology the same semester. Primarily, her research interests focus on the intersection of neuroscience and psychology, and she seeks to understand the underlying relationships between the brain and behavior that lead to OCRD symptomatology, further enriching the treatment of these conditions in the process. In the future, she hopes to continue researching OCRDs and eventually become a doctor of Clinical Psychology, functioning as both a therapeutic provider and a researcher in the OCRD community.
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  • Geena Fram

    Research Assistant 1 HSS

    Geena received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Brown University. While pursuing her bachelor's, she complemented her studies by pursuing clinical work within programs focusing on schizophrenia, mood disorders, and addiction. Geena is currently a postgraduate associate in Anticevic Lab at Yale University School of Psychiatry.
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  • Stephen Kichuk, MPH

    Research Assistant 2 HSS

    Stephen came to the clinic with a long-held interest in anxiety disorders and OCD. He coordinates studies, conducts clinical assessment and education, facilitates psychedelic study sessions, and trains staff.
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  • Elizabeth Mattera

    Research Assistant, Psychiatry

    Elizabeth came to the clinic with a background in psychometrics and psychophysics. She has particular interest in anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as taboo thoughts and suicidality. In our clinic, she conducts diagnostic intakes and clinical assessments.
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  • Avalon Moore

    Research Assistant 1HSS

    Avalon Moore is a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry, working within the Yale OCD Research Clinic. She graduated magna cum laude in 2021 from the University of San Francisco where she studied psychology and neuroscience. She is currently interested in evidence-based treatment for substance use and trauma- and stressor- related disorders in underserved female populations.
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Collaborators

Past Research Staff

  • Suzanne Wasylink, RN-BC - Nurse Manager
  • Richard Baker - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Giuliana DePalmer, MA – Research Assistant
  • Hatice Nur Eken - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Jennifer Forte - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Jamilah R. George, MDiv - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Mac Kelly, MAPP - Research Assistant
  • Xiao Ma - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Ashton Megli - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Jeffrey Orrego - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Emma Romaker - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Catherine Russell - Post-Graduate Associate
  • Ryan Simpson, MS - Research Assistant
  • Elisa Stern, MS - Post-Graduate Associate