I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences and the David and Patricia Baron Chair for PTSD. I received my PhD in Neuroscience and Animal Behavior at Emory University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Atlanta VA working with Vietnam veterans. My research program focuses on the interaction of traumatic experiences, neurophysiology, neuroendocrinology, and genetics in stress-related disorders in adults and children in high-risk populations. My research employs psychophysiological (e.g. acoustic startle response, skin conductance response, heart-rate variability) and brain imaging methods to investigate biomarkers of risk for trauma-related psychopathology, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I developed novel fear conditioning paradigms in patients with stress-related disorders, using fear-potentiated startle and other psychophysiological and neuroimaging measures, including structural and functional MRI. I am the lead investigator on several federally funded grants from the National Institutes of Health and has an Independent Investigator Award from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation.