Who We Are

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D. is the Foundations Fund Endowed Professor in Psychiatry, and Professor in Neuroscience and in Child Study at the Yale University School of Medicine. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Neuroscientist, Deputy Chair of Psychiatry for Psychology and Chief of the Psychology Section in Psychiatry. She is the founding director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Stress Center that focuses on understanding the neurobiology and psychology of stress, trauma and resilient versus vulnerable biobehavioral coping mechanisms that promote neuropsychiatric diseases such as alcohol use disorders, substance use disorders, chronic pain, PTSD and other chronic diseases. She has developed novel stress, pain and craving provocation paradigms to understand mechanisms that drive these states and related pathologies and their impact on clinical addiction outcomes in alcohol use disorder, substance use disorders and related conditions. Her lab also develops and tests novel pharmacologic and integrative behavioral approaches to address chronic stress and addiction relapse risk to improve addiction treatment outcomes. These objectives are being accomplished through a series of NIH funded research projects and she has published widely on these topics. She is the 2020 recipient of the Research Society on Alcoholism's Distinguished Researcher Award, and the 2020 recipient of the James Tharpe Award for outstanding contributions to Addiction Research. She has served on many NIH special emphasis panels, review committees and workshops, presented at numerous national and international conferences, and her work is widely cited.

Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. She serves as the director of the Yale Obesity Research Center (Y-Weight) and the co-director of the Yale Center for Weight Management. She is trained in both adult endocrinology and pediatric endocrinology, is an obesity medicine physician-scientist, and an international leader in research and clinical application of anti-obesity pharmacotherapeutics. Her work has included working to develop Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines (AACE/ACE 2016), serving on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Obesity Medicine, educating the next generation of Obesity Medicine physicians by teaching at national and international obesity treatment courses, and conducting cutting-edge clinical-translational obesity research. Her research includes large, multi-center clinical outcomes trials using novel anti-obesity pharmacotherapeutics and studies examining the neurobiology underlying obesity and mechanisms of anti-obesity medications (supported by the NIH/NIDDK). Recently, she has served as lead author for trials investigating potential novel nutrient-stimulated hormone-based therapies for obesity including dual hormone receptor agonist tirzepatide (NEJM) a novel GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist (Jastreboff, et al., NEJM, 2022) and triple hormone receptor agonist retatrutide (NEJM) a novel GIP/GLP-1/Glucagon receptor agonist (Jastreboff, et al., NEJM, 2023). Dr. Jastreboff thoughtfully advocates for compassionate care for patients with obesity and was recently interviewed Oprah. Videos of Dr. Jastreboff and colleagues from the NEJM about: - What causes obesity: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/... - Supporting patients with obesity: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/... - Medications and surgery for obesity treatment: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/...Yale video with Dr. Jastreboff about anti-obesity medications and the biology of obesity. Podcast (Yale Talk) with the president of Yale University, Dr. Peter Salovey, speaking with Dr. Jastreboff. Clinically, Dr. Jastreboff specializes in sophisticated use of anti-obesity medication combinations to help patients reach their weight and health goals.

Dr. Fogelman is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale Stress Center where she completed her Post Doctoral training. She earned her PhD in Integrative Neuroscience at Stony Brook University, SUNY with an advanced certificate in Quantitative Methods. Her research examines the relationships between stress, substance abuse, and clinically relevant health markers.

Dr. Goldfarb is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and member of the Wu Tsai Institute. She completed her PhD in Psychology: Cognition & Perception with Dr. Elizabeth Phelps at New York University and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Departments of Diagnostic Radiology and Psychiatry with Dr. Rajita Sinha at Yale. Her research investigates different forms of learning and memory, how stress changes which parts of our experiences we remember, and the impact of memory on later behavior.

Joseph Guarnaccia, MD, is a board-certified neurologist in practice for more than 30 years, having completed his residency at the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Neurology in 1993. He was Assistant Professor and Director of the Yale Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Program at Yale until 2000 when he left to establish two multiple sclerosis treatment centers in Derby, CT and Warwick, RI, which he continues to operate. Dr. Guarnaccia has collaborated with the Yale Stress Center on multiple projects including assessing the effects of mindfulness meditation to address insomnia in patients with multiple sclerosis, testing and development of cannabis compounds in the treatment of chronic pain in patients with and without multiple sclerosis, as well as those with opioid prescription use and misuse. He has also worked on Stress Center Studies involving several experimental and clinical outcomes such as stress biological effects on food reward, alcohol and drug craving, and in clinical trials of alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder treatments.

Zach Harvanek is an Assistant Professor and a board-certified Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist. He completed his MD and PhD at the University of Michigan, studying the neurobiological mechanisms through which stress impacts the aging process. He trained at Yale for his Psychiatry residency and his fellowship, and worked with Drs. Rajita Sinha and Ke Xu to analyze how adversity and psychological resilience are related to epigenetic aging. His current work focuses on relationships between mental health and long-term physical outcomes, including obesity, metabolic health and aging.

Dr. Milivojevic received her PhD training in Neuroscience at the Alcohol Research Center at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Her research interests include sex-specific targets of the stress system and sex hormone-derived neuroactive steroids as novel treatments for substance use disorders.

Dr. Seo received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus in 2008. She is interested in conducting interdisciplinary research to understand the etiology of stress-related clinical disorders and facilitate the development of effective treatment strategies for stress-related diseases.

Dr. Wemm is a Associate Research Scientist at the Yale Stress Center. She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University at Albany, SUNY and her predoctoral internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her research investigates how stress impacts substance and behavioral addictions using both laboratory and naturalistic methods.

Dr. Xu is a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and holds a position as Staff Psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Her research is dedicated to exploring the complex interactions between stress and the epigenome, aiming to uncover how these interactions contribute to the development of stress-related symptoms and disorders such as substance use. This important work has led Dr. Xu to investigate a broad spectrum of behavioral and medical conditions in diverse populations. Dr. Xu is engaged in the field of social epigenomics that helps us understanding the biological underpinnings of the effects of social environments on health.

Meet Rachel Irizarry, a dedicated Registered Nurse with over 18 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Holding both a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and a Bachelor's in Psychology, Rachel brings a unique blend of medical expertise and understanding of human behavior to our stress center. Beyond the bedside, Rachel is passionate about driving positive change in healthcare through research, with a particular interest in enhancing quality of life for patients.

Ju Won is a current family nurse practitioner student at Yale School of Nursing. She graduated summa cum laude from Creighton University with a BSN degree. Ju Won has been a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing since 2018. She has nursing experience in the inpatient medical unit and emergency department and looks forward to gaining valuable experience at the Yale Stress Center.

Raised in Madison, CT. Alex has enjoyed her previous work experiences in the emergency department, child psychology, geriatrics, dementia, and home infusion therapy. She enjoys volunteering within her community. Although new to research, she is excited to be a part of the fantastic team at the Yale Stress Center!

Emalee graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Master’s degree in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. Her research interests include studying the neural connections between emotion regulation, resilience, and maladaptive behavior. As a licensed professional counselor, Emalee hopes to promote wellness through research and clinical practice.

Ms Hart has been working in the substance abuse field for over 30 years and is a Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor with a Masters Degree in Counseling. For the past 26 years she has conducted clinical research in addiction at the School of Medicine with various principal investigators.

Emily is a post-graduate research associate with the Laboratory for Healthy Minds at the Yale Stress Center. She is interested in exploring the neural correlates of stress and anxiety, with a particular focus on the relationship between individual differences in brain structure and transdiagnostic traits associated with internalizing disorders.

Celine graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA degree in Psychology and a minor in Early Development & Learning Science. Since 2019, Celine has served as a research assistant and/or project manager in various multifaceted research projects, including fMRI and EEG studies. Additionally, she managed the NSF NRT PhD training program "TRANSCEND" at the University of Connecticut under the supervision of Dr. Fumiko Hoeft & Dr. Nicole Landi from 2022 to 2024, where she was involved in post-award grant management.

Originally from Richmond Va, Jen graduated from Old Dominion University in 2021 earning a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Addiction Prevention and Treatment. She is currently a postgraduate research associate at the Yale Stress Center and plans to pursue a career as a licensed professional counselor, specializing in alcohol and drug counseling.

Lily graduated with her Bachelors in Psychology and her Masters in Applied Clinical Psychology from the University of South Carolina Aiken. Her current research interests include exploring treatments for substance use disorders, efficacy of digital mindfulness interventions, and adapting mindfulness interventions for the needs of diverse populations. As a therapist, Lily has treated clients with a variety of disorders including substance use disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and borderline personality disorder. Lily wanting to pursue her clinical licensure in CT. Lily is looking forward to developing more research skills and continuing to learn clinical skills, so she can pursue her PhD in Clinical Psychology.

Born and raised in Connecticut, Ryan earned a B.S. in public health with minors in chemistry and biology, graduating Cum Laude from Southern Connecticut State University. As an aspiring physician, he is eager to use his research and public health experience to improve patient care. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports, volunteering and exploring new restaurants.

Benazir is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and she completed her bachelor's degree at Harvard University in 2021. She is currently working as a post-graduate research associate at the Yale Stress Center, and she hopes to eventually pursue a PhD in Psychology or Neuroscience.

Raised in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Riley graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a student athlete with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in anthropology. As an undergraduate research assistant, Riley investigated the behavioral and neural mechanisms contributing to substance use disorders (SUDs) while using tools such as behavioral modification, electroencephalography (EEG), and noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS). She hopes to further explore these mechanisms and test novel SUD treatments in a clinical psychology PhD program. In her free time, Riley likes to play soccer, paint, sew, go to antique/thrift stores, eat good food, and pet her dogs.

Prisha was born and raised in Bangalore, India and spent parts of her childhood living in Japan and China. She graduated from Vassar College in 2024, earning a bachelors in Psychological Science with honors. She now works at the Yale Stress Center as a Post-Graduate Associate. After this, she hopes to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology with a focus on global mental health, specifically culturally adapted treatments. She is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, and in her free time she enjoys cooking, listening to music, and watching films.

Raised in Woodbridge, Connecticut, Adaiah Stevens graduated from Wake Forest University where she received a B.S in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. In undergrad Adaiah was engaged with two primary research projects: The characterization of the CB1 receptor as a target of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using Diphenyl Piperidine analogs, and the investigation of the drug-target interactions of the antimalarial drug Artemisinin. Having been intently engaged in the Winston-Salem, NC community through volunteer efforts at mobile health clinics, Adaiah is passionate about improving health outcomes in underserved communities and looks to use this passion to fuel her pursuit of Medical School. Adaiah loves cooking, working out, spending time with family and playing the piano.