Clinical Focus

• Psychiatry
• Psychology

Professional Education

Community and International Work

• Prevention of Teen Dating Violence 
• Life Skills and Physical Self-Defenese Training in Women with a history of Interpersonal Trauma, Stanford 
• Expression of Mental Health Symptoms in Pakistan, Pakistan 

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 women’s 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

• Imaging the Nucleus Accumbens in Major Depressed Patients 'Treated with Pramipexole Recruiting
• Self-Defense Training in Women with Trauma Recruiting
• Effects of Growth Hormone on Cognition and Cerebral Metabolism in Adults Recruiting
• Clinical and Biological Characteristics of Psychotic Depression Completed
• Music and Brain Imaging Study on Depression Completed

Publications

• Aberrant brain activation during a working memory task in psychotic major depression. Garrett A, Kelly R, Gomez R, Keller J, Schatzberg AF, Reiss AL. Am J Psychiatry. 2011; 168 (2): 173-82
• Preliminary evidence that plasma oxytocin levels are elevated in major depression. Parker KJ, Kenna HA, Zeitzer JM, Keller J, Blasey CM, Amico JA, Schatzberg AF. Psychiatry Res. 2010; 178 (2): 359-62
• Semantic processing of emotional words in depression and schizophrenia. Klumpp H, Keller J, Miller GA, Casas BR, Best JL, Deldin PJ. Int J Psychophysiol. 2010; 75 (2): 211-5
• Effects of major depression diagnosis and cortisol levels on indices of neurocognitive function. Gomez RG, Posener JA, Keller J, DeBattista C, Solvason B, Schatzberg AF. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009; 34 (7): 1012-8
• Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in psychotic and nonpsychotic unipolar depression. Keller J, Shen L, Gomez RG, Garrett A, Solvason HB, Reiss A, Schatzberg AF. Am J Psychiatry. 2008; 165 (7): 872-80