HeLPP Team

Dr. Ellen Herbener, PhD

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ellen Herbener received her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago, and her Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. She completed a psychology internship at Cambridge Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Herbener has a dual appointment in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a member of the Clinical Psychology Division in the Psychology department. Her research focuses on abnormalities in emotional and social functioning in individuals with schizophrenia.

Graduate Students

Sushma Rameshkumar, M.A.

Sushma is a seventh--year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program. After graduating with a Masters in Psychology from the University of Madras, Sushma worked as a research fellow at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, India. Her current research interests include examining contextual factors in social cognition across the schizophrenia spectrum disorders as well as cultural factors in mental health. In her spare time, Sushma enjoys cooking with her daughter and loves to go on walking trails.

Elisa Dumett Torres, M.A.

Elisa is a third-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. Elisa received her B.A. in Psychology and Comparative Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017. She then participated in the National Institutes of Health Post-baccalaureate IRTA program where she worked within the Section on Psychosis and Cognitive Studies of the Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch. Using fMRI, she studied how environmental and genetic factors interact on working memory amongst healthy individuals, and how this may extend into the context of schizophrenia. Elisa's research interests include using behavioral and neuroimaging methods to explore the interaction within and distinctions between social and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing, baking, and outdoor activities.

Briana Galindo, B.A.

Briana is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at UIC. After two years at a community college, Briana received her B.A. in Psychology at UIC. She then spent three years working at Rush University Medical Center working with individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Briana’s research interests include understanding how stressors, trauma, environmental and cultural factors impact social functioning and the development of individuals at risk for psychosis. In addition, she is also interested in how brain structures are affected by adverse life events. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and watching movies.