Dr. Fitzgerald is accepting graduate school applications for the Clinical Psychology PhD program to start Fall 2025. Please reach out to Dr. Fitzgerald directly with any questions (jacklynn.fitzgerald@marquette.edu) or apply by clicking the link below.

Congratulations to graduate student Katie Barber who successfully passed her dissertation qualifying exam with flying colors! Katie is now officially a doctoral candidate. Way to go!

Congratulations to graduate student Tristan Benjamin who successfully passed her dissertation proposal! Tristan’s dissertation will explore the role of avoidance in fear habituation responses in individuals exposed to childhood trauma. Congrats, Tristan!!!

Collaborator Dr. Rachel Bollaert and Dr. Fitzgerald were honored to be featured speakers at the Inaugural Motion Impacts Emotion Conference. We were able to present our data on veterans with PTSD using exercise and yoga for mental health. Click the links below to learn more about the conference and our program of research.

Excited to share that the lab is joined by many new undergraduate RAs for this year. Welcome new lab members: Maeve, Téa, Brandon, Esther, Chloe, Ashley, Brigitte, and Sylvia! Visit the People page to learn more about our amazing team!

New paper out! Was a pleasure to co-write a review paper with Dr. Susan Sangha on the utility of conditional discrimination and inhibition studies for the investigation of PTSD. Now available in Behavioral Neuroscience! Click the link for access.

Sangha, S., Fitzgerald, J.M. (In press). Translational approaches to the neurobiological study of conditioned inhibition: implications for psychiatric disease. Behavioral Neuroscience

New paper out! Our feasibility trial results from a 12-week yoga program for veterans with PTSD are now published. This was a true interdisciplinary team science approach with investigators across psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and exercise science. Findings demonstrated initial feasibility of a yoga program specifically designed to promote mindfulness among veterans with PTSD.

Bollaert, R.E., Bennett, M.M., Davis, K.E., Hillard, C.J., Whittle, J., Franco, Z., Broadwell, S., Fitzgerald, J.M. (In press). Yoga for Veterans with PTSD: Intervention Feasibility and Changes in PTSD Symptom Severity, and Psychological and Physiological Health-related Fitness Outcomes. International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

Congratulations to Kaley who was elected to serve as President of the Milwaukee Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) chapter!

Welcome Riley! Riley is a post-bac who is joining the lab this month to assist in imaging studies recruitment and testing. We couldn’t be more thrilled that he’s joining the team.

Riley recently graduated from Indiana University with a degree in psychology. He is interested in studying neurological and mental disorders, as well as social behaviors. He wants to go to graduate school with a focus in clinical or social psychology.

Huge congratulations to graduate students Tristan, Meghan, and Kaley for their co-authored critical commentary just accepted for publication in the Journal of Neuroscience. This piece, titled “Environmental and Interpersonal Factors Impact the Developing Brain” reviews a recently-published paper in the journal that used prospective longitudinal assessment of brain changes in adolescents tied to childhood acute and environmental stressors.

Congratulations to Tristan who passed her clinical competency exam (with flying colors!). Next up: internship applications!

A huge congratulations to our TAN Lab RAs who graduated: Emely, Baneen, Calista, Mary, and Abby! Baneen, Calista, and Abby pictured to the left!

Congratulations to Kaley who was elected to serve as the Psychology department council representative for the Marquette Graduate School Organization (GSO). Kaley will serve in this role for the upcoming 2024/2025 academic term. Congrats, Kaley!!!

Meghan and Kaley took a day trip and presented their respective research projects at the Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion last week! Here they are discussing the differences in emotional appraisal of graded intensity faces (Kaley) and the relationship between PTSD and conditional discrimination of safety and fear (Meghan).

The Milwaukee chapter of the Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) has opened applications for its scientific advancement award to support female-identifying scientists in the Milwaukee region. Click the link below to find out more and to apply!

Congratulations to Calista who has been awarded the 2024 Dr. Anees Sheikh Outstanding Senior in the Psychology Department Award!!!! Well deserved! Calista was nominated for this award earlier this month and will be presented with the award at the Psychology Department Research Symposium on May 2nd.

Congratulations to Emely who was admitted into the Neuroscience PhD program here at Marquette. Emely will start the program in the fall and we couldn’t be more excited for her!

Congratulations to Calista, who was nominated for the Department of Psychology Outstanding Senior Award!!!! Calista will find out if she wins this award in May! We’re rooting for you, Calista!

Dr. Fitzgerald was recently interviewed by the American Psychological Association (APA) for their Editor Spotlight series on her role as Editor of Translational Issues in Psychological Science. Click the link to read the interview!

Anandamide in Health and Disease is now available for pre-order. Dr. Fitzgerald co-authored a book chapter to this volume on the role of anandamide - an endocannabinoid - and its relationship to psychiatric illness, building from the lab’s collaborative work on the endocannabinoid signaling system in PTSD and depression. More info in the links!

Congratulations to Sadaf, whose poster presentation on the “Impact of a yoga intervention on veterans with PTSD: A qualitative study” was accepted for presentation at the Mind the Minds Symposium. This regional conference will be held at UW-Green Bay in June. Congratulations, Sadaf!!!

Follow the link below to read Dr. Fitzgerald’s inaugural editorial for Translational Issues in Psychological Science.

Congratulations to Ellie who was accepted into the Department of Psychology Honors Program! Ellie will be completing her independent honors project in the lab next year.

Congratulations to Kaley, whose poster presentation titled “Relationship between Inhibitory Intolerance of Uncertainty and Differential Psychophysiological Response to Conditioned Fear and Conditioned Inhibitor Cues” was accepted for presentation at this year’s Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) conference. Kaley will be presenting her work in Austin, TX in May.

New symposium accepted for presentation! Dr. Fitzgerald will chair a symposium at this year’s Pavlovian conference to be held in September 2024 in Indianapolis, IN. Symposium is titled Fear Processing and Fear Inhibition in the Study and Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

All undergraduate RA positions have been filled for the Fall 2024 academic year.

Now recruiting Marquette undergraduate research assistants (RAs) for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Undergraduate RAs are requested to work at least 5 hours a week and research credit (PSYC 4956) is offered (up to 3 credits per semester). If you are interested in joining the lab, please e-mail Dr. Fitzgerald (jacklynn.fitzgerald@marquette.edu) by April 30, 2024 to schedule an interview.

Congratulations to Josh who was selected as a fellow for this year’s Diversity Summer Health-related Research Education Program (DSHREP) held at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). A huge honor!

Dr. Fitzgerald has been invited to speak about her program of research at the Milwaukee Neuroscience Research Retreat, to be held April 11th, 2024. Click the below link for more information or to register.

Congratulations to Dr. Devi Jayan (lab alum) on her appointment to Assistant Professor in Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago!!!

Congratulations to Meghan who matched for clinical internship at Baylor School of Medicine! Meghan will be starting her internship this coming July in the Mood and Trauma Related Disorders track!!! Way to go, Meghan!

A huge congratulations to Kaley who was awarded the Jobling Distinguished Research Assistantship here at Marquette. This award will support Kaley in her program of research for the year to come. Congratulations, Kaley!

So exciting to see Kaley representing the lab in the Society for Biological Psychiatry (SOBP)’s inaugural Synapse Spotlight newsletter! To receive this newsletter in your inbox, subscribe using the link below.

Please join the Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) Milwaukee chapter for a special fundraising event! We will be hosting a raffle at Blu at the Pfister Hotel on February 26th 5:30-7:30pm. All are welcome to attend and we encourage you to stop by for a cocktail, meet our 2023/2024 board members, and see how you can get involved to support women in science.  

Proceeds from drinks and raffle will go towards funding a scientific advancement award to be gifted to a GWIS Milwaukee member. Raffle prizes include donations from MSOE, The Oriental Theatre, Stone Creek Coffee, Pete’s Pops, the Pfister Hotel, and more! For more information and link to RSVP, please see the accompanying flyer.

New paper out! Graduate student Kaley’s manuscript on the relationship between trauma type and trauma burden on exercise habits of U.S. veterans was recently accepted for publication in the journal Trauma. This research was funded by our CTSI ICRE award investigating the feasibility of exercise and yoga on PTSD in a veteran sample.

Davis, K., Bennett, M., Hillard, C., Franco, Z., Whittle, J., Bollaert, R.E., Fitzgerald, J.M. (In press). Effect of trauma type and trauma burden on self-efficacy for physical exercise in military veterans. Trauma.

Congratulations to Emely, who was selected to join the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program)!!! We are so excited for you!

The lab has a new undergraduate Research Assistant, Rasmeen Kaur. Welcome, Rasmeen!

December 2023

A big congratulations to RAs, Emely, Sadaf, Calista, Josh, and Mary whose poster abstracts were accepted for presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) conference. They will also be headed to Chicago this coming Spring!

December 2023

Congratulations to graduate students Meghan, Tristan, and Kaley whose symposium titled Impact of Trauma across the Lifespan on Multi-Valenced Emotion Processing was accepted for presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) conference held in Chicago this coming Spring!

December 2023

Congratulations to Dr. Fitzgerald who was appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the American Psychological Association (APA) journal Translational Issues in Psychological Science! Dr. Fitzgerald will assume position as Editor starting in 2024!

October 2023

New paper out! Graduate student Kaley Davis’ work on neural makers of emotional conflict detection as a significant predictor of the onset of PTSD avoidance symptoms in traumatic injury survivors. This work is now published in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy.

Davis, K. E., Tomas, C. W., Webb, E. K., Huggins, A. A., deRoon-Cassini, T. A., Larson, C. L., & Fitzgerald, J. M. (2023). Neural processes of emotional conflict detection and prediction of posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters in traumatic injury survivors. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001586

October 2023

Congratulations to graduate students Tristan and Kaley who both passed their dissertation qualifying exams this past month! Way to go!

September 2023

New paper out! Graduate student Meghan Bennett’s work on data-driven trajectory modeling to demonstrate distinct patterns of cortisol response to stress occur is now published. This work demonstrates that such patterns differentially relate to heart rate variability in a large sample of healthy adults.

Bennett, M., Tomas, C., Fitzgerald, J. (In press) Relationship between Heart Rate Variability and Differential Patterns of Cortisol Response to Acute Stressors in Mid-Life Adults: A Data-Driven Investigation. Stress & Health

September 2023

New review paper by graduate students, Meghan and Kaley, selected for the cover image of the September Issue of Biological Psychiatry: CNNI. This review article highlights the importance of studying reward deficits in PTSD - way to go, Meghan & Kaley!

Bennett, M., Davis, K., Fitzgerald, J. (In press) Neural Correlates of Reward Processing in the Onset, Maintenance, and Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biological Psychiatry: CNNI. 8(9):884-890.

Dr. Fitzgerald is accepting graduate school applications for the Clinical Psychology PhD program to start Fall 2024. Please reach out to Dr. Fitzgerald directly with any questions (jacklynn.fitzgerald@marquette.edu) or apply by clicking the link at the bottom.

A BIG congratulations to Devi Jayan, who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, titled the Role of Cortisol in the Development of Post-traumatic Stress and Dysphoria. Congrats, Devi!!!

Congratulations to recent lab members Ana, Kim, Kelly, Veronica, and Keeley on their graduations!!!

New Project!

We are pleased to announce that the lab has received a Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Integrated Clinical and Research Ensemble (ICRE) Award for a new project on the efficacy of yoga for veterans with PTSD. The 1-year research project will be completed with collaborators and labs across Marquette University (Exercise Science), the Medical College of Wisconsin (Pharmacology & Toxicology), and the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. The Translational Affective Neuroscience Lab will be charged with studying the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of endocannabinoids, cortisol, and psychophysiology associated with PTSD symptom change.

New Paper published!

Dr. Fitzgerald’s new paper accepted for publication in Neurobiology of Stress demonstrates that higher circulating endocannabinoids, specifically 2-AG, collected days after a traumatic injury is a significant predictor for the prospective development of depressive symptoms. Data further confirms that the endocannabinoid signaling system, known to be involved in stress buffering and HPA-axis activation, is highly activated following trauma in some individuals, and that this is a robust biomarker for trauma-related psychopathology.

Dr. Fitzgerald invited to speak at the Pavlovian 2020 Annual Meeting on translational neuroscience.

Dr. Fitzgerald will speak with her colleagues, Kate Webb (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee) and Mike Ragozzino (University of Illinois at Chicago) on fostering cross-species collaborations to advance translational neuroscience. Presentation scheduled for Thursday, September 10 (4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT).

Congratulations to Veronica Cruz (undergraduate RA) and Devi Jayan (graduate student) on their accepted poster presentation at the upcoming 2020 Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Their accepted poster, titled Perceived Stress is Related to Hypoactivation of Diurnal Cortisol Rhythm and Blunted Cortisol Response to a Cognitive Challenge, will be presented Wednesday, October 7, 2020 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT.

Cruz, V., Jayan, D., Fitzgerald, J.M. Perceived stress is related to hypoactivation of diurnal cortisol rhythm and blunted cortisol response to a cognitive challenge. Society of Psychophysiology Annual Meeting, October 7, 2020, presented virtually owing to COVID-19.

New paper published shows that distributed whole-brain connectivity with the amygdala accurately predicts severity of PTSD symptoms in adults.

Findings demonstrate the utility of machine learning and multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) based on amygdala functional connectivity to predict individual severity of PTSD symptoms. Published manuscript appears in the August 2020 issue of Brain and Behavior.

Fitzgerald, J.M., Belleau, E.L., Miskovich, T.A., Pedersen, W.S., Larson, C.L. (In press). Multi-voxel pattern analysis of amygdala functional connectivity as a predictor of variability in posttraumatic stress severity. Brain and Behavior.

New paper published shows distinct neurocircuitry with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) after motor vehicle crash accurately predicts the development of chronic pain symptoms in injury survivors.

The article, published in the July 2020 issue of the Journal of Pain demonstrates that pain severity six months after injuries sustained during motor vehicle crash can be predicted by dACC-functional connectivity with the premotor cortex and cuneus.

Fitzgerald, J.M., Belleau, E.L., Taubitz, L.E., Trevino, C., Brasel, K.J., Larson, C.L.*, deRoon-Cassini, T.* (In press). Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex resting state functional connectivity as a predictor of pain symptoms following motor vehicle crash: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Pain

Welcome to new members of the lab: Meghan Bennett (graduate student), Boiana Pegau (undergraduate RA), Ana Cinch (undergraduate RA), and Francesca Mancini (undergraduate RA)!

Meghan joins the lab as a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program. Before joining Marquette, Meghan worked as a neurofeedback clinician and talk therapist with people healing from trauma and mood disorders in Sandy Hook, CT and earned her master’s degree in clinical-counseling psychology at Illinois State University in 2017.

Boiana, Ana, and Francesca are undergraduates studying psychology at Marquette. Before joining the lab, they all thoroughly enjoyed taking Dr. Fitzgerald’s Biopsychology class! ;)

Undergraduate RA, Veronica Cruz, was selected to join the 2020 Summer McNair Scholars Program!

Veronica’s scholarship earns her a slot in the Summer Research Institute, a paid research internship. Congratulations, Veronica!

Click the link below to read Veronica’s completed research project done in the Translational Affective Neuroscience Lab.

Graduate student, Devi Jayan, awarded Forward Thinking Grant!

Devi was awarded one of four $1,000 awards across the university to conduct her research titled “ Examining Cortisol Mediated Stress Reactivity in PTSD and Comorbid Post-traumatic Depression” in the TAN Lab. Congratulations, Devi!