People

Stephan Taylor, M.D.

Director, PREP

Professor of Psychiatry

Stephan F. Taylor, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. He also serves as Associate Chair for Research and Research Regulatory Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry, and directs the Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention. His research uses brain imaging, brain stimulation and behavioral techniques to study psychosis, particularly early psychosis, and to develop and improve treatments for psychiatric disorders.

Ivy F. Tso, Ph.D., L.P.

Clinical & Training Director, PREP

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Tso is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Michigan. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, overseeing the clinical operation and clinical training of PREP. Dr. Tso's research examines how important social information is processed in people with mental illness (particularly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychosis) using behavioral experiments, neuroimaging (EEG/ERP, fMRI), and brain stimulation (TMS).

Cynthia Burton, Ph.D., L.P.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Burton is a neuropsychologist with a particular research interest in cognitive training interventions for people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, to help people improve their thinking skills and ultimately everyday functioning. Clinically, she provides neuropsychological assessment to adults with a range of neurological and psychiatric concerns.

Tyler Grove, Ph.D., L.P.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Grove completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Science at the University of Michigan, his clinical internship at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan as a postdoctoral fellow in September 2018. In September 2020 he joined the Department of Psychiatry faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Dr. Grove has clinical expertise in cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis, anxiety disorders, and sleep disorders, along with recovery-oriented and transdiagnostic psychosocial treatments. His research examines the impact of cognitive and affective factors on social functioning in people with a serious mental illness using behavioral and psychophysiological methods.

Adrienne Lapidos, Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Adrienne Lapidos is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. Her research focuses on innovations designed to improve access to care, especially interventions led by Peer Specialists and Community Health Workers that integrate physical, behavioral, and oral health. As a clinical psychologist with Michigan Medicine, she provides psychotherapy to individuals living with psychosis, depression, and anxiety disorders.

Lindsay A. Bornheimer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Social Work

Dr. Bornheimer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on understanding and preventing suicide death among adults experiencing serious mental illness, with a specific focus among individuals with psychosis and schizophrenia.

Takakuni Suzuki, Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Suzuki completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Purdue University and his clinical internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan as a postdoctoral fellow in September 2019. His research interests are in understanding mental illness in a broad transdiagnostic dimensional model, specifically by leveraging advanced statistical techniques and various measurement methods (e.g., questionnaire, physiological). His clinical interests are in treating commonly co-occurring mental illnesses, such as psychosis, depression, substance use, and trauma.

Alejandra Arango, Ph.D.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Arango is a licensed clinical child psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Science at the University of Michigan. Dr. Arango completed an internship in Integrated Behavioral Health at Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical child psychology at Michigan Medicine. Clinically, she is interested in working with adolescents presenting with depression, anxiety, psychosis, and trauma, and for whom suicide-specific interventions are a core aspect of treatment. Dr. Arango is a member of the Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention Research Program. Her research interests are in interpersonal factors that impact suicide risk, as well as evidence-based practices for intervening with youth at elevated risk.

Carol Chen, M.D.

Clinical Instructor

Carol Chen, MD, is a Child and Adolescent psychiatrist at University of Michigan. She completed her residency training at University of California, Davis and fellowship training at Harbor-UCLA. She provides evaluation and medication treatment for Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention (PREP), Child OCD and Anxiety Disorder Program (COAP), and other clinics in the Department of Psychiatry. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, young adults and their families and incorporate mindfulness, ACT, DBT, and CBT oriented work into her appointments.

Alyssa Smith, L.L.P.

PREP Clinical Care Manager

Alyssa Smith is a limited licensed psychologist for the Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention clinic (PREP) and a variety of other clinics for the Department of Psychiatry. Clinically, she provides CBTp, family therapy and case management for young adults with early psychosis. Additionally, she conducts research assessments and provides educational trainings to community agencies on how to identify early psychosis in young adults.

James Svensson, L.M.S.W.

Therapist / Case Manager

Jim Svensson is a licensed social worker for the Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention (PREP) and a variety of other clinics in the Department of Psychiatry, including the Crisis Support Clinic. Jim provides family psychoeducation and other evidence-based Interventions to patients with psychosis.

Elizabeth Walters, M.M.S., PA-C

Physician Assistant

Elizabeth is a board certified Physician Assistant with an additional specialty board certification in Psychiatry. She provides medication management for the Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention (PREP) as well as a variety of other clinics in the Department of Psychiatry.

Laura Stchur, M.S.W.

Research Manager

Laura Stchur, MSW, is a clinical research manager for Dr. Steve Taylor, MD, in the Department of Psychiatry. Laura has worked on numerous NIH clinical trials on bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety spectrum disorders, in addition to coordinating research teams in multiple pharmaceutical-sponsored clinical drug trials on schizophrenia and psychosis. Recently, her focus has been on the study of anxiety disorders, specifically OCD. Laura is currently managing a clinical trial led by Dr. Kate Fitzgerald, MD, investigating the treatment effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on OCD in adolescents.

Pan Gu, B.A.

Research Coordinator

Pan Gu is the research coordinator for Dr. Ivy Tso and Dr. Stephan Taylor. She recently completed her BA in neuroscience at Colorado College and joined the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry in September 2019. She helps facilitate multiple research using neuroimaging and brain stimulation methods to investigate social cognition. Pan's research interest is in understanding the underlying neural mechanism behind serious mental illness. In particular, to examine social cognition between populations with and without a history of psychosis using behavioral and neuroimaging methods. In the future, Pan plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a focus on neuropsychology.

Paula Brayboy, B.A.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Paula Brayboy is a clinical research coordinator for Dr. Stephan Taylor. Paula joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan in September 2019 to manage an NIH funded clinical trial that uses functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), medication, and neurocognitive testing to examine brain functioning in people with early psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar depression, and healthy adults. Since completing her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin in May 2018, Paula has worked on two large clinical trials investigating effective treatments for anxiety and depression. Her current research interests are focused on using neuroimaging (i.e., fMRI) to better understand psychiatric disorders with the aim to develop and improve treatments for psychosis. Paula plans to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology.

Clara Steeby, B.S.

Research Coordinator

Clara Steeby is a research coordinator for Dr. Stephan Taylor. Clara recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in neuroscience in 2020. She joined the lab as a research assistant in August 2020. Previously having worked in the Jonides Cognitive Neuroimaging lab as an undergraduate research assistant for two years, she is excited to continue working in cognition research, specifically more related to serious mental health disorders. Clara's research interests include the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying mental health disorders, in particular studied via neuroimaging techniques. In the future, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in neuropsychology. In her free time, Clara enjoys swimming and reading.

Laura Locarno, B.S.

Research Coordinator

Laura recently completed her B.S. in Neurobiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she conducted research involving human psychophysics underlying the neural basis of vision and visually guided behavior. She joined the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry as a study coordinator in October 2020. Broadly, she is interested in understanding the neurobiological basis of psychological disorders. Laura plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Neuropsychology. In her free time, Laura enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her family, friends, and dog.

Tessa Cholewicki, B.Sc.

Research Coordinator

Tessa Cholewicki joined the Michigan Department of Psychiatry as a study coordinator in July 2021. Tessa holds a B.Sc. from Michigan State University in Statistics. Prior to joining the team, Tessa worked in Healthcare IT as an analyst and web developer. Tessa’s future plans are to pursue a Ph.D. program in Psychology. In her free time, Tessa enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Molly Simmonite, Ph.D.

Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellow

Molly is a postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D in Psychiatry in 2013 from the University of Nottingham, UK, where she investigated cerebral connectivity in psychosis. She joined the Computational & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab in April 2016, where she will be using functional MRI, MR spectroscopy and behavioral methods to study the effects of aging on the brain. Her research interests revolve around trying to understand the architecture and behavior of the complex brain networks which underlie normal and pathological brain states.

Scott Blain, Ph.D.

Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellow

Scott is a postdoctoral fellow who joined the lab in Fall of 2021. His research seeks to identify joint mechanisms of normal-range personality traits and related psychopathology dimensions, with a particular focus on psychosis, antagonism, and autism. His research approach combines fMRI, questionnaires, and behavioral tasks using a variety of latent variable modeling methods. Scott also enjoys teaching and incorporates evidence-based pedagogy, dimensional psychopathology research, and narrative analysis into his courses.

Scott completed his Ph.D. in Personality Psychology at University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a B.S. in Cognitive Studies at Vanderbilt. His former advisors and current collaborators include Colin DeYoung, Bob Krueger, Sohee Park, and Blythe Corbett. His work has been published in journals like Schizophrenia Bulletin, JPSP, and Journal of Abnormal Psych.

Carly Lasagna, B.A.

Graduate Student

Carly Lasagna is a clinical science Ph.D. student working with Dr. Ivy Tso. She is interested in the mechanisms of cognitive control and perceptual decision-making in psychosis and bipolar disorder. Her goal in research is to bring together computational modeling, neuroimaging, and neuromodulation methods in order to generate model-based neuroscience perspectives on complex psychiatric disorders that will facilitate more effective, individualized treatment. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, drawing, and photography.