Jennifer Keller
Key Documents
Contact Information
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Clinical Offices
Psychiatry Department 401 Quarry Road MC 5723 Stanford, CA 94305 Tel Work (650) 724-0070 Fax (650) 723-8331
- Contact Information
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 724-0070Not for medical emergencies or patient use
Professional Overview
Clinical Focus
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
Professional Education
| Fellowship: | Stanford University School of Medicine CA (2001) |
| Internship: | VA Medical Center CA (2000) |
| Medical Education: | University of Illinois Department of Psychology IL (1999) |
| Ph.D.: | U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Clinical Psychology (1999) |
Professional Affiliations and Activities
- Research Professor, Palo Alto University (2009 - present)
Community and International Work
Internet Links
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
My current work focuses on the prevention and intervention of interpersonal violence and abuse in women. Recent research from the CDC (2011) finds that 1 in 5 women in the U.S. experience rape in their lifetime and more than 1 in 3 women experience violence from a partner. Recent estimates put the cost of childhood violence on par with medical conditions such as diabetes and stroke (Fang, 2012). All of this abuse is preventable. The toll of interpersonal violence on women includes reduced psychological, interpersonal, physical, occupational, and economic functioning; all of which reduce her quality of life. We are researching an adjunctive therapeutic class which provides psychoeducation, psychological skill development, and physical self-defense training to women who have a history of interpersonal trauma. In addition, we are piloting a dating violence prevention program for adolescent girls, partnering with a local high school.
The plight of women is even more severe in other parts of the world. Over the last year, I have been developing several collaborations with researchers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in South Asia, starting with India and Pakistan. Collectively, our vision is to improve the status of women in these countries, focusing on womens mental health and the prevention of violence. I am currently working with an NGO in India to develop an empowerment program for young girls there.
I am also very interested in the biological links between interpersonal trauma and depression. Several studies have suggested relationships between dysfunctional hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity and trauma, as well as distinct links between HPA dysfunction and depression. Previous research suggests that early life stress makes the HPA axis more stress reactive and therefore leads to dysfunction in cognition, cortisol, and even brain volume. I am examining these relationships between trauma, depression, cognition, and biological factors, including HPA activity, genetic expression, and brain structure and function.
Clinical Trials
- Recruiting Effects of Growth Hormone on Cognition and Cerebral Metabolism in Adults
- Not Recruiting Treatment of Schizoaffective Disorder Using Mifepristone
- Not Recruiting Self-Defense Training in Women With Trauma
- Recruiting Imaging the Nucleus Accumbens in Major Depressed Patients 'Treated With Pramipexole
- Recruiting Clinical and Biological Characteristics of Psychotic Depression
Publications
- Altered brain function underlying verbal memory encoding and retrieval in psychotic major depression. Psychiatry Res. 2013; (2): 119-26
- Insular cortex abnormalities in psychotic major depression: relationship to gender and psychotic symptoms. Neurosci Res. 2013; (4): 331-9
- The mineralocorticoid receptor agonist, fludrocortisone, differentially inhibits pituitary-adrenal activity in humans with psychotic major depression. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013; (1): 115-21
- Aberrant brain activation during a working memory task in psychotic major depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2011; (2): 173-82
- Preliminary evidence that plasma oxytocin levels are elevated in major depression. Psychiatry Res. 2010; (2): 359-62
- Semantic processing of emotional words in depression and schizophrenia. Int J Psychophysiol. 2010; (2): 211-5
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