R. Kathryn McHugh, Ph.D.
Chief of Psychology, McLean Hospital
Director, Stress, Anxiety and Substance Use Laboratory, McLean Hospital
Director, Behavioral Treatment Research, Development and Testing, Division of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction, McLean Hospital
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Dr. McHugh received her B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University. She is currently the Director of the Stress, Anxiety and Substance Use Lab and the Chief of Psychology at McLean Hospital and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. McHugh is a clinical researcher and practitioner whose work focuses on the nature and treatment of stress, anxiety and substance use disorders. Her research is currently funded by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and she is an Associate Editor of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors and Cognitive Therapy and Research. She has published more than 160 manuscripts and book chapters as well as an edited book on the dissemination of evidence-based treatments. Dr. McHugh is a recipient of a number of awards, including the David Shakow Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Clinical Psychology from the American Psychological Association. She also is the Director of Behavioral Therapy Development, Training and Research in McLean’s Division of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction and specializes in cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders.
Allen J. Bailey, Ph.D
Dr. Bailey is a postdoctoral clinical and research fellow at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the Stress, Anxiety, and Substance Use lab. He received his B.A. in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University. Dr. Bailey completed his predoctoral internship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2022. His research interests include: (1) the assessment of substance and polysubstance use problems (2) mechanisms in the treatment of opioid use disorder (3) data driven models of psychiatric comorbidity. In addition to his research work, Dr. Bailey also specializes in cognitive behavioral therapies for anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Dr. Bailey leads groups at the LEADER (Law Enforcement, Active Duty, Emergency Response) program and the Pavilion at McLean Hospital. He also sees private practice patients through the Cambridge Psychology Group.
Robyn A. Ellis, Ph.D
Dr. Ellis is a postdoctoral research fellow at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the Stress, Anxiety, and Substance Use and Neurocardiac Effects of Stress and Trauma laboratories. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at the Central Western Massachusetts Veteran’s Administration hospital and received her PhD in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University in 2022. Dr. Ellis’ graduate work focused broadly on the manifestation and maintenance of psychological distress following trauma seeking to identify potential targets for intervention. Her dissertation examined the efficacy and mechanisms of change in a brief empirically-based exposure treatment for PTSD in undergraduates with elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms. Dr. Ellis’ interest in the shared psychophysiological mechanisms underlying PTSD and substance use disorders led her to McLean seeking to investigate such mechanisms to enhance intervention for co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorders. Her favorite ice cream flavor is black raspberry.
Juliette Bichon, B.A.
Juliette graduated from Tufts University in 2022 with a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and Sociology. Her previous research experience is varied. Throughout undergrad, she worked in a social psychology lab at Tufts studying the mediating effects of humor on conversations about race and discrimination. She also performed sociology research on popular perceptions of physician-assisted suicide and was a summer intern in a PTSD lab at McLean studying intrusive memories. Her senior year, she was a part-time student intern at the Stress, Anxiety and Substance Use lab under Dr. McHugh, after which she became a full-time RA in the lab. She manages the “Pain, Inflammation and Opioid Craving” and “Opioid Overdose and Stress” studies. Her research interests include investigating risk and protective factors in the development of substance use disorders as well as co-occurring disorders such as depression and PTSD. She hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology following her time at McLean. Her favorite ice cream flavor is salted caramel cookies and cream.
Kael Ragnini, B.A.
Kael graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a BA in Neuroscience & Behavior. From 2019 to 2022, she was a research assistant in the neuropsychopharmacology lab of Dr. Heath Schmidt at University of Pennsylvania, leading projects focused on the neurobiological effects of drugs such as cocaine, nicotine and opioids, and how peripheral metabolic factors could be targeted to reduce addiction-like behaviors in preclinical models. Her interest in conducting clinical research on substance use disorders motivated her move to McLean in summer 2022. In the future, Kael hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She is interested in conducting research into how aberrant reward learning manifests in clinical symptomatology such as substance use disorders, disordered eating, and self-harm behaviors. She is originally from Barrington, Illinois, and her favorite flavor of ice cream is pistachio.
Emma Trapani, M.A.
Emma graduated from Wesleyan University in 2022 with a master’s in psychology. In undergrad at Wesleyan, Emma studied Neuroscience & Behavior and Italian Studies. Throughout her college career, Emma worked in a cognitive development lab studying numerical and spatial cognition in children. During her fifth year, Emma worked as a research coordinator on a preschool math game initiative, implementing research-based math curricula in local preschools. For her master’s thesis, Emma studied map use in Williams Syndrome, exploring symbolic representations of space in a clinical population with hippocampal abnormalities. Emma’s interest in clinical research and desire to study substance use led her to McLean. In the Stress, Anxiety and Substance Use Lab, Emma manages two studies: “Opioid Overdose and Stress” and “Nature and Predictors of Impaired Harm Avoidance in Polysubstance Use”. Following her time at McLean, Emma hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She is interested in studying substance use in adolescence. Her favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate peanut butter.