Madhukar Trivedi, M.D.
Professor
Psychiatry

Founding Director, Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care Betty Jo Hay Distinguished Chair of Mental Health Julie K. Hersh Chair for Depression Research and Clinical Care Professor of Psychiatry Chief, Division of Mood Disorders PI, NIDA Big South/West Node of the Clinical Trials Network.

Dr. Trivedi’s research over the last 25 years has focused on understanding the neurobiology and psychology of depression and bipolar disorder, with a particular focus on developing an empirical basis for improving treatment of depression. Dr. Trivedi and his team have been involved in many of the pivotal studies involving the establishment of efficacy of antidepressant treatments (medications, psychotherapy, exercise, complimentary treatments, devices, etc.), examining next steps in treatment resistant depression to develop algorithms and guidelines, and developing and validating biomarkers in order to reach the goal of precision medicine for mood disorders. 

E. Rabia Ayvaci, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Emine Rabia Ayvaci is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). She currently works as a child & adolescent psychiatrist at the Children's hospital Psychiatry Clinic. She also works as a research faculty at the Center for Depression Research at the UTSW. She obtained her medical degree from the Hacettepe University Medical School in Ankara, Turkey. She completed a psychiatry research track residency and child psychiatry fellowship at the UTSW Medical School. During her training, she worked on projects that explored health care access for underserved populations. She continues her clinical and research efforts with a focus on pediatric populations suffering from depressive disorders.

Manish Kumar Jha, M.B.B.S
Associate Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Manish Jha is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Center of Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. He conducts clinical research that aims to identify the biological mechanisms of depression, anxiety and substance use disorders in order to inform the development of novel treatments. He received his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India and completed his residency training in Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. He is a Member of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. In addition to his research and educational activities, Dr. Jha maintains an active clinical practice focusing on evidence-based interventions for difficulty-to-treat depressive and anxiety disorders. He has received travel/new investigator awards from several national and international societies. He has authored/co-authored over 100 manuscripts.

Cherise R. Chin Fatt, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Cherise R. Chin Fatt, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care (CDRC). She obtained a PhD in cognition and neuroscience (2017) from the University of Texas at Dallas and did her postdoctoral work with Dr. Madukhar Trivedi, M.D. She is now a functional neuroimaging researcher with substantial expertise in advanced statistics. She has applied computational approaches to generate new insights into precision medicine approaches for currently available antidepressant treatments and to identify new targets for mechanistically-targeted drug discovery for neuropsychiatric disorders. 

Dr. Chin Fatt will apply novel computational approaches to existing clinical and neuroimaging data to characterize the immune cell mechanisms underlying suicidal thoughts. Successful completion of her KL2 program will help identify immune factors that may be potential targets for drug discovery (and subsequent R level grants) and enable her transition as a federally funded independent investigator. Drs. Trivedi, David Farrar, and Elizabeth Ballard are her KL2 research mentors

Carmen Cruz, Psy.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Carmen Cruz (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Center of Depression Research and Clinical Care (CDRC) at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Prior to this appointment, she served in various positions at Texas Woman’s University Counseling and Psychological Services in Denton, Texas, for 26 years, including Training Director of the APA accredited doctoral internship program. Her professional interests include leadership/mentorship, teaching, clinical supervision, multicultural psychology, gender & sexuality, cultural/spiritual development, and the impact of stigma in seeking help. Dr. Cruz completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology and Criminal Justice at Florida International University in Miami, Florida and received her doctoral degree from the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Cruz served as the first Latinx President of ACCTA (Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies), a national organization focused on advanced doctoral training of psychologists. Additionally, in 2020, she received the Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship at the Columbia University Teacher’s College, Annual Winter Roundtable.

Dr. Cruz’s experience and scholarship focuses on how to provide trauma and multiculturally informed practice in clinical and teaching settings. She has been part of various writing projects throughout her career, reflective of the integration of teaching, supervision and multiculturally competent clinical work. Throughout her career, she has focused on enhancing trainee experiences and development in supervision, evident in her direct service, publications, service, and invited presentations. Her aim is to contribute to the CDRC’s robust research projects by providing leadership, clinical innovation, and mentorship to assist with collective goals of the center.

Dr. Cruz is also an activist in her community of Denton, Texas, where she has founded two LGBTQ+ organizations to improve the lives of gender and sexual minority youth and families.

Jane A. Foster, Ph.D.
Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Jane Foster is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Center of Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.

As a neuroscientist and a leading expert on the microbiome, Dr. Foster joined UTSW and the CDRC in May 2022 to lead the effort to connect the dots between a person’s 39 trillion gut microbiome and their propensity for mental illness. By combining basic science research with clinical collaboration in psychiatry, psychology, and gastroenterology, Dr. Foster’s research takes a ‘bench to bedside’ and back again approach to studying microbiota-brain and immune-brain systems. This collaborative approach and the ability to independently conceptualize cutting-edge neurobiological research in both normal states and psychiatric disorders has resulted in the development of an internationally recognized research program. A focus of ongoing research is the development of analytical methods to integrate microbiome data with neuroimaging, behavioural, and clinical data sets to better understand the individual nature of microbiome-host interactions in health and disease. These analytical approaches will be utilized to advance the discovery of robust integrative immune/metabolic/microbial biomarkers of health status, treatment response and other clinical features.

Lynnel Goodman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Lynnel Goodman is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University. She completed her predoctoral internship and a postdoctoral fellowship with a specialization in Infant Mental Health at Tulane University School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship at UTHealth- Houston. Her research interests focus on identifying risk and resilience factors for young children and families that have been exposed to adverse and traumatic experiences. She has experiences in consultation and program development to create systemic changes that promote the wellbeing of children as well as clinical experience providing evidence-based treatment and assessment across the lifespan.

Elise N. Marino, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Elise Marino is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin where she received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She received her first B.A. in Government from The University of Texas at Austin and her second B.A. with Highest Honors in Psychology with International Distinction from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Since 2011, Dr. Marino has been researching and treating substance use disorders. Her research and clinical work has focused on discovering and implementing evidence-based pharmacological and behavioral treatments for various substance use disorders, including alcohol, opioids, and stimulants. Dr. Marino was recruited from the Dallas VA to join the CTN Big South/West Node where she is engaged in the large portfolio of NIDA-funded Stimulant Use Disorder Clinical Trials with the ultimate goal of finding an effective treatment where none currently exists.

Russell Toll, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry

Dr. Russell Toll graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2005 and was deployed to Iraq as an Armor Infantry Platoon Leader. During his 15-month tour in the Diyala River Valley, his unit fought in some of the most pitched engagements of the war. Dr. Toll returned home and served as a casualty officer charged with informing families that their soldier had been lost in the line of duty. This experience coupled with the administration of his unit’s severely wounded at Walter Reed Medical Center inspired Dr. Toll to begin graduate studies at Stanford University. Working alongside NIH Pioneer Awardee, Dr. Amit Etkin, Dr. Toll earned his Ph.D. in bioengineering in 2018. Seeking to improve the healing technology available to his brothers and sisters in arms by applying EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation towards treatments for PTSD and depression, Dr. Toll is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UTSW and leads the neuroimaging and neuromodulation components for several studies. When asked why he does this work, Dr. Toll states, “Mental health research is the means to resist. I see the work we do here at the CDRC as a continuation of the Code every servicemember past and present has sworn to: “…I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.” The mental health challenges that people face are persistent enemies but giving up will never be an option. The insights and discoveries we make here transform into new treatments and a path back to thriving.”