Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Psychiatry The University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio
Biographical Sketch
Dr. James is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in the Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory and Clinic (NRLC). She completed her graduate training in Clinical Psychology at Florida State University and an APA-accredited internship at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Dr. James’s research has focused on substance use disorders and Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) with a particular emphasis on borderline PD. Specifically, she has examined psychological and physiological factors that characterize these disorders with the aim of identifying vulnerability factors that may underlie the robust patterns of comorbidity often noted among these and other disorders. To that end, she has developed a focus on impulsivity as a mechanism that gives rise to problematic substance use, suicide-related behaviors, and other self-destructive behaviors such as binge-eating, promiscuity, and gambling. She is particularly interested in the role of impulsive behaviors in modulating negative affect. At the NRLC, Dr. James is expanding her research to adolescents and will be involved with studies that examine the contributions of impulsivity, serotonin functioning, and stressful life events on the developmental trajectories of suicidal behavior and problematic substance use.
Research Interests
- Gender Differences in the Manifestation and Function of Impulsive Behaviors Across the Lifespan
- Identification of Endophenotypes of Impulsive and Self-destructive Behaviors
- Emotion Dysregulation
- Psychophysiological Assessment
Education
| 1999 | B.A. | Psychology | Boston University |
| 2005 | M.S. | Clinical Psychology | Forida State University |
| 2009 | Ph.D. | Clinical Psychology | Forida State University |
| 2009 | Internship | Clinical Psychology | Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center |
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