Elena received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke University in 2015 and completed her clinical internship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Elena is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and she works jointly with Ian Gotlib and Alan Schatzberg. Her research focus is on biological correlates of psychopathology in adults, particularly using neuroimaging and genetics research methods to explore the dysfunction seen in major depressive disorder. More specifically, she studies processes such as emotion regulation and cognitive control and how these go awry in depression, examining what happens in the brain as well as behaviorally. She also sees adult outpatients through the Psychosocial Treatment Clinic at Stanford to work with patients on these behavioral targets. Finally she has an emerging clinical and research interest in depression and emotion regulation in mothers during the peripartum period and the impact on caregiving behavior.
