Carrie E. Bearden, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Psychology, and the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. Her research focuses on identifying underlying genetic and biological vulnerability markers for serious mental illness, using converging methodologies to study clinical high-risk samples and highly penetrant ‘genetic subtypes’ of these conditions. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2003 and then obtained a K23 Career Development Award to obtain specialized training in genetic methodologies. She is the Director of the UCLA Center for the Assessment and Prevention of Prodromal States (CAPPS) and the Adolescent Serious Mental Illness internship and externship tracks for clinical students. With Roel Ophoff, she also co-directs the Neurogenetics T32 Predoctoral Training Program and the Neurogenetics track within the Neuroscience Interdepartmental Ph.D. program.

UCLA PROFILE

Dr. Gil Hoftman is a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and the CAPPS Medical Co-Director at our clinic. He earned a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon University and an MD from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Hoftman completed his psychiatry residency and child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh and UCLA, and he is board certified both in General Adult Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Hoftman has received prestigious research awards including the National Institute of Mental Health K23 Career Development Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists, and Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD young investigator award.

Driven by a passion for developing innovative approaches to understand and treat psychosis risk states, Dr. Hoftman remains deeply connected with his patients and their families. He is dedicated to educating the next generation of behavioral health professionals and is recognized as an esteemed lecturer on medications for treating psychosis risk and comorbidities. What sets Dr. Hoftman apart in his approach to patient care is his integration of holistic and compassionate personalized care. He appreciates the significance of developmental and neurobiological principles while also acknowledging the impact of environmental and psychological factors on distressing symptoms and experiences. This comprehensive approach ensures that each patient receives tailored care that addresses their unique needs.

Leila Kushan-Wells is the study coordinator for the UCLA 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Study. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from UCLA and her Master’s degree in Neuroscience and Cognition from the University of Utrecht in Holland. She has worked as part of research teams investigating brain function in various patient populations. Leila is the main contact for participants and their families and she’d be happy to provide you with more information about our study.

Charlie is an MD/Ph.D. student in the UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Graduate Program. After graduating with a BS in Psychology from Yale, he worked with Dr. Alan Anticevic in Yale’s division of Neurocognition Neurocomputation and Neurogenetics, using multimodal neuroimaging to research the effects of psychiatric disorders and psychotropic drugs. In Dr. Bearden’s lab, Charlie is interested in leveraging brain imaging and genetic approaches to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the development of psychosis spectrum disorders in individuals with genetic and clinical risk factors.

Sarah is a Ph.D. student in the UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program. Prior to graduate school, she worked with Dr. Leanne Williams at Stanford University on large-scale neural circuits and interventions for adults with depression. In the Bearden Lab, she is currently interested in multimodal neural trajectories and their relationship with symptomology and functional outcomes in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Carolyn is a Ph.D. student in the UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program. Before coming to UCLA, she studied Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. Upon graduation, Carolyn completed a two-year fellowship at the National Institutes of Health with Dr. Lauren Atlas, where she studied neural and psychological mechanisms of pain, medication, and expectancy. In Dr. Bearden's laboratory, Carolyn is interested in using brain imaging, behavior, immunology, and genetics approaches to study substance use and psychiatric disorders.

Kathleen is a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience Interdepartmental program. After graduating with a BS in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience at Villanova University, she joined the Computational Psychiatry, Neuroimaging, and Sleep lab at Stanford School of Medicine. At Stanford, she worked with Dr. Andrea Goldstein-Piekarski to study the role of sleep in the maintenance and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms. In the Bearden lab, Kathleen studies the relationship between sleep and developmental psychiatric disorders using neuroimaging and genomic approaches.

Dr. Bernalyn Ruiz-Yu currently serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the clinic, passionately working towards advancing mental health treatment and care for adolescents. Her educational background boasts an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and Research Methods and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. Dr. Ruiz-Yu's professional accomplishments have been recognized through the NIH Loan Repayment Award and the Early Career Award from the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS). In her role at the clinic, she brings a unique approach to patient care. Her experiences as an elementary school teacher, and her involvement in various social issues, contribute to her holistic and intersectional perspective when working with patients and their families.

Dylan Hughes graduated from the University of Boston, Massachusetts. With an interest in the biological basis of psychopathology, he pursued work at the Martinos Center in Boston, MA, where he trained in developmental neuroscience, imaging, and genomic methods. Broadly, he is interested in the spectrum of psychosis, particularly its development within individuals, and the identification and differentiation of mechanisms underlying psychotic and psychotic-like experiences across categories of mental illness.

Rui Ma serves as a Staff Research Associate at the clinic. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Prior to her affiliation with CAPPS, Rui spent two pivotal years in a psychiatric hospital in Beijing, concentrating her efforts on first-episode psychosis and those at clinical high risk. Further broadening her expertise, she collaborated with Dr. Jason Schiffman's lab at UCI, primarily contributing to ProNET and other multisite studies.

What truly drives Rui's passion is a profound interest in understanding social cognition, social functioning, and family dynamics within diverse populations at clinical high risk.

Sparsh Moondhra serves as a Staff Research Associate at CAPPS. She graduated from UCLA with a BA degree in Psychology and a minor in Disability Studies. Prior to her affiliation with CAPPS, under the guidance of Dr. Eliza Congdon, Sparsh contributed to the Digital Mental Health Study, as part of the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge to advance the understanding of causes and trajectories of depression, stress, anxiety, and their potential relationship to other physiological conditions using digital technologies. During her undergraduate years, with the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center, Sparsh provided crisis counseling to the callers by applying evidence-based approaches for individuals in high emotional distress. Additionally, with UCLA’s KidsConnect program, Sparsh served children with developmental disabilities such as autism through individualized and structured behavioral, cognitive, and developmental interventions.

Broadly, Sparsh is interested in utilizing multimodal methods (e.g. behavioral, fMRI) to understand how environmental, neurobiological, and behavioral factors influence the development of adolescent serious mental illness in ethnically diverse populations. During her free time, one can find Sparsh cooking and exploring different pasta recipes or binge-watching thriller TV shows.

Dr. Vanessa Calderon is a Postdoctoral Fellow at CAPPS. Originally from East Los Angeles, she completed her undergraduate studies at Yale University (B.A. in Psychology, with distinction) and went on to receive her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California where she also completed a Master of Public Health degree in Community Health Promotion. Dr. Calderon first joined CAPPS in 2021 as a Clinical Psychology Intern in the Adolescent Serious Mental Illness track at the UCLA Semel Institute.

Dr. Calderon is dedicated to providing culturally-informed care in English and Spanish and enjoys working with youth and families from diverse backgrounds. Her current research examines pathways to care and the role of the family on mental health treatment use, which she aims to translate into interventions for Latinx Spanish-speaking families. 

Dr. Calderon has been funded by the APA Minority Fellowship Program, UCLA ALACRITY Center pilot study funds, and a NIMH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship. She was recently honored with the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (JCCAP) Future Directions Launch Award.