Stephanie Gorka
Associate Professor
Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Academic information
- Department: Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Research interests
- Neuroimaging
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Electromyography (EMG)
- Clinical Assessment
About
Biography
My research has focused on how individual differences in reactivity to stress relate to psychopathology using multimodal psychophysiological techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and startle eyeblink potentiation. Broadly, my findings converge to suggest that stress reactivity is a transdiagnostic construct that underlies maladaptive coping behavior and the development of several psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and fear-based anxiety disorders (e.g., panic disorder). These individual differences can reliably be measured in the lab and used to predict disorder onset, treatment response, and changes in symptoms over time. The overarching goal of my work is to develop and validate a multilayered neurobiological model of stress reactivity to serve as human lab targets and aid in the development of novel clinical interventions.
Credentials
Education
- PhD
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- MA
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- BS
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
Research
Research interests
- Neuroimaging
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Electromyography (EMG)
- Clinical Assessment
Active Funding
- K23AA025111 (NIH/NIAAA; 2017 – 2022)
- R01AA028225 (NIH/NIAAA; 2021 – 2026)
- R01MH126116 (NIH/NIMH; 2021 – 2026)
Professional Membership
- Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)