Aoife O'Donovan, PhD
Associate Professor
Psychiatry
School of Medicine

Specifically, we aim to identify the psychological and biological factors that account for the adverse effects of psychological stress, and ultimately to drive the development of targeted interventions to reduce such negative effects of stress. To this end, we are currently focused on uncovering stress-related changes in immune system functioning and on examining how such changes impact brain function and structure.

• Modifying Informed Consent to Help Address Functional Unmasking in Psychedelic Clinical Trials.
  JAMA psychiatry 2025 Matvey M, Kelley DP, Bradley ER, Chiong W, O'Donovan A, Woolley J
• Childhood trauma is linked to epigenetic age deceleration in young adults with previous youth residential care placements.
  European journal of psychotraumatology 2024 Meier M, Kantelhardt S, Gurri L, Stadler C, Schmid M, Clemens V, O'Donovan A, Boonmann C, Bürgin D, Unternaehrer E
• Lifetime Trauma Exposure and Arthritis in Older Adults.
  Psychosomatic medicine 2024 Nishimi K, Chen R, Schmajuk G, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: where is the psychotherapy research?
  Psychopharmacology 2024 Aday JS, Horton D, Fernandes-Osterhold G, O'Donovan A, Bradley ER, Rosen RC, Woolley JD
• Content analysis of Reddit posts about coadministration of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and psilocybin mushrooms.
  Psychopharmacology 2024 Sakai K, Bradley ER, Zamaria JA, Agin-Liebes G, Kelley DP, Fish A, Martini V, Ferris MC, Morton E, Michalak EE, O'Donovan A, Woolley JD
• Association of psychiatric disorders with clinical diagnosis of long COVID in US veterans.
  Psychological medicine 2024 Nishimi K, Neylan TC, Bertenthal D, Seal KH, O'Donovan A
• Psychological resilience to lifetime trauma and risk for cardiometabolic disease and mortality in older adults: A longitudinal cohort study.
  Journal of psychosomatic research 2023 Nishimi K, Bürgin D, O'Donovan A
• Psychological Resilience to Trauma and Risk of COVID-19 Infection and Somatic Symptoms Across 2 Years.
  Psychosomatic medicine 2023 Nishimi K, Tan J, Scoglio A, Choi KW, Kelley DP, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Post-traumatic stress disorder and risk for hospitalization and death following COVID-19 infection.
  Translational psychiatry 2022 Nishimi K, Neylan TC, Bertenthal D, Dolsen EA, Seal KH, O'Donovan A
• Identifying correlates of suicide ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional analysis of 148 sociodemographic and pandemic-specific factors.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2022 Dolsen EA, Nishimi K, LeWinn KZ, Byers AL, Tripp P, Woodward E, Khan AJ, Marx BP, Borsari B, Jiha A, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Adverse and traumatic exposures, posttraumatic stress disorder, telomere length, and hair cortisol - Exploring associations in a high-risk sample of young adult residential care leavers.
  Brain, behavior, & immunity - health 2022 Bürgin D, Clemens V, Varghese N, Eckert A, Huber M, Bruttin E, Boonmann C, Unternährer E, O'Donovan A, Schmid M
• Dispositional optimism and positive health outcomes: Moving from epidemiology to behavioral interventions.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2022 Cobert J, O'Donovan A
• Higher hair cortisol concentrations associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in high-risk young adults.
  Scientific reports 2022 Bürgin D, Varghese N, Eckert A, Clemens V, Unternährer E, Boonmann C, O'Donovan A, Schmid M
• Prior trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2022 Nishimi K, Borsari B, Tripp P, Jiha A, Dolsen EA, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Worse sleep, worsening post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Poor sleep quality associated with increases in PTSD symptoms amongst those experiencing high threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Journal of sleep research 2022 Straus LD, Dolsen EA, Nishimi K, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms associated with protective and risky behaviors for coronavirus disease 2019.
  Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 2022 Nishimi K, Borsari B, Marx BP, Tripp P, Woodward E, Rosen RC, Cohen BE, Maven D, Jiha A, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Psilocybin for Trauma-Related Disorders.
  Current topics in behavioral neurosciences 2022 Khan AJ, Bradley E, O'Donovan A, Woolley J
• Clusters of COVID-19 protective and risky behaviors and their associations with pandemic, socio-demographic, and mental health factors in the United States.
  Preventive medicine reports 2021 Nishimi K, Borsari B, Marx BP, Rosen RC, Cohen BE, Woodward E, Maven D, Tripp P, Jiha A, Woolley JD, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Effects of oxytocin administration on fear-potentiated acoustic startle in co-occurring PTSD and alcohol use disorder: A randomized clinical trial.
  Psychiatry research 2021 Stauffer CS, Morrison TE, Meinzer NK, Leung D, Buffington J, Sheh EG, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A, Woolley JD
• Ventromedial and insular cortical volume moderates the relationship between BDNF Val66Met and threat sensitivity.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2021 Young DA, Chao LL, Zhang H, Metzler T, Ross J, Richards A, O'Donovan A, Inslicht SS, Neylan TC
• COVID-19 related moral injury: Associations with pandemic-related perceived threat and risky and protective behaviors.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2021 Khan AJ, Nishimi K, Tripp P, Maven D, Jiha A, Woodward E, Inslicht S, Richards A, Neylan TC, Maguen S, O'Donovan A
• The Stress of Caring-Resilience and HPA-Axis Activity in Hair Samples of Youth Residential Caregivers.
  Frontiers in psychiatry 2020 Bürgin D, Kind N, Schröder M, Clemens V, Fegert JM, Eckert A, Buchheim A, O'Donovan A, Boonmann C, Schmid M
• Compounding Stress: Childhood Adversity as a Risk Factor for Adulthood Trauma Exposure in the Health and Retirement Study.
  Journal of traumatic stress 2020 Bürgin D, Boonmann C, Schmeck K, Schmid M, Tripp P, Nishimi K, O'Donovan A
• Acute cognitive effects of the hypocretin receptor antagonist almorexant relative to zolpidem and placebo: a randomized clinical trial.
  Sleep 2020 Neylan TC, Richards A, Metzler TJ, Ruoff LM, Varbel J, O'Donovan A, Sivasubramanian M, Motraghi T, Hlavin J, Batki SL, Inslicht SS, Samuelson K, Morairty SR, Kilduff TS
• Relationships of inflammation trajectories with white matter volume and integrity in midlife.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2020 O'Donovan A, Bahorik A, Sidney S, Launer LJ, Yaffe K
• Impulsivity as a multifactorial construct and its relationship to PTSD severity and threat sensitivity.
  Psychiatry research 2020 Young DA, Neylan TC, Zhang H, O'Donovan A, Inslicht SS
• Automatic Imitation in Comorbid PTSD & Alcohol Use Disorder and Controls: an RCT of Intranasal Oxytocin.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020 Morrison TE, De Coster L, Stauffer CS, Wen J, Ahmadi E, Delucchi K, O'Donovan A, Woolley J
• Validation of sleep measurement in a multisensor consumer grade wearable device in healthy young adults.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2020 Kanady JC, Ruoff L, Straus LD, Varbel J, Metzler T, Richards A, Inslicht SS, O'Donovan A, Hlavin J, Neylan TC
• Social integration and inflammation in individuals with and without posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2020 Ahmadian AJ, Lin JE, Neylan TC, Woolley JD, O'Donovan A, Cohen BE
• Randomized Controlled Trial Testing Mobile-Based Attention-Bias Modification for Posttraumatic Stress Using Personalized Word Stimuli.
  Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science 2020 Niles AN, Woolley JD, Tripp P, Pesquita A, Vinogradov S, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Randomized controlled trial testing mobile-based attention-bias modification for posttraumatic stress using personalized word stimuli
  Clinical Psychological Science 2020 Niles, A. N., Woolley, J. D., Tripp, P., Pesquita, A., Vinogradov, S., Neylan, T. C., & O’Donovan, A.
• Fact or artefact? Childhood adversity and adulthood trauma in the U.S. population-based Health and Retirement Study.
  European journal of psychotraumatology 2020 Bürgin D, Boonmann C, Schmid M, Tripp P, O'Donovan A
• Effects of Oxytocin Administration on Cue-Induced Craving in Co-occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and PTSD: A Within-Participant Randomized Clinical Trial.
  Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research 2019 Stauffer CS, Meinzer NK, Morrison T, Wen JH, Radanovich L, Leung D, Niles A, O'Donovan A, Batki SL, Woolley JD
• Gender Differences in Threat Biases: Trauma Type Matters in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
  Journal of traumatic stress 2019 Cowden Hindash AH, Lujan C, Howard M, O'Donovan A, Richards A, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS
• Oxytocin increases eye gaze in schizophrenia.
  Schizophrenia research 2019 Bradley ER, Seitz A, Niles AN, Rankin KP, Mathalon DH, O'Donovan A, Woolley JD
• Adverse Childhood Experiences and Telomere Length a Look Into the Heterogeneity of Findings-A Narrative Review.
  Frontiers in neuroscience 2019 Bürgin D, O'Donovan A, d'Huart D, di Gallo A, Eckert A, Fegert J, Schmeck K, Schmid M, Boonmann C
• Child abuse interacts with hippocampal and corpus callosum volume on psychophysiological response to startling auditory stimuli in a sample of veterans.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2019 Young DA, Neylan TC, Chao LL, O'Donovan A, Metzler TJ, Inslicht SS
• Comparing anxiety and depression to obesity and smoking as predictors of major medical illnesses and somatic symptoms.
  Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 2018 Niles AN, O'Donovan A
• Altered overnight levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in men and women with posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018 Küffer A, Straus LD, Prather AA, Inslicht SS, Richards A, Shigenaga JK, Madden E, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A
• Association among anterior cingulate cortex volume, psychophysiological response, and PTSD diagnosis in a Veteran sample.
  Neurobiology of learning and memory 2018 Young DA, Chao L, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A, Metzler TJ, Inslicht SS
• Effects of Threat Context, Trauma History, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Status on Physiological Startle Reactivity in Gulf War Veterans.
  Journal of traumatic stress 2018 Niles AN, Luxenberg A, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS, Richards A, Metzler TJ, Hlavin J, Deng J, O'Donovan A
• Personalizing Affective Stimuli Using a Recommender Algorithm: An Example with Threatening Words for Trauma Exposed Populations.
  Cognitive therapy and research 2018 Niles AN, O'Donovan A
• Gender differences in longitudinal relationships between depression and anxiety symptoms and inflammation in the health and retirement study.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018 Niles AN, Smirnova M, Lin J, O'Donovan A
• The interaction of BDNF Val66Met, PTSD, and child abuse on psychophysiological reactivity and HPA axis function in a sample of Gulf War Veterans.
  Journal of affective disorders 2018 Young DA, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A, Metzler T, Richards A, Ross JA, Inslicht SS
• Personalizing affective stimuli using a recommender algorithm: An example with threatening words for trauma-exposed populations
  Cognitive Therapy and Research 2018 Niles, A.N. & O'Donovan, A.
• Associations of Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Inflammation and Endothelial Function: On Timing, Specificity, and Mechanisms.
  Biological psychiatry 2017 O'Donovan A, Neylan TC
• Sleep and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis responses to metyrapone in posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017 Inslicht SS, Rao MN, Richards A, O'Donovan A, Gibson CJ, Baum T, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC
• Dementia Risk in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: the Relevance of Sleep-Related Abnormalities in Brain Structure, Amyloid, and Inflammation.
  Current psychiatry reports 2017 Mohlenhoff BS, O'Donovan A, Weiner MW, Neylan TC
• Sleep and Cognitive Performance From Teens To Old Age: More Is Not Better.
  Sleep 2017 Richards A, Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Mohlenhoff BS, Rao MN, O'Donovan A, Neylan TC
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Adverse Childhood Events, and Buccal Cell Telomere Length in Elderly Swiss Former Indentured Child Laborers.
  Frontiers in psychiatry 2016 Küffer AL, O'Donovan A, Burri A, Maercker A
• PTSD is associated with elevated inflammation: any impact on clinical practice?
  Evidence-based mental health 2016 O'Donovan A
• Alteration of immune markers in a group of melancholic depressed patients and their response to electroconvulsive therapy.
  Journal of affective disorders 2016 Rush G, O'Donovan A, Nagle L, Conway C, McCrohan A, O'Farrelly C, Lucey JV, Malone KM
• Becoming an Academic Researcher in Psychiatry: A View From the Trenches.
  Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry 2016 Ionescu DF, McAdams CJ, O'Donovan A, Philip NS
• Associations of childhood adversity and adulthood trauma with C-reactive protein: A cross-sectional population-based study.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2015 Lin JE, Neylan TC, Epel E, O'Donovan A
• Metabolic risk factors and posttraumatic stress disorder: the role of sleep in young, healthy adults.
  Psychosomatic medicine 2015 Talbot LS, Rao MN, Cohen BE, Richards A, Inslicht SS, O'Donovan A, Maguen S, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC
• Anxiety is associated with higher levels of global DNA methylation and altered expression of epigenetic and interleukin-6 genes.
  Psychiatric genetics 2015 Murphy TM, O'Donovan A, Mullins N, O'Farrelly C, McCann A, Malone K
• Perceived life stress exposure modulates reward-related medial prefrontal cortex responses to acute stress in depression.
  Journal of affective disorders 2015 Kumar P, Slavich GM, Berghorst LH, Treadway MT, Brooks NH, Dutra SJ, Greve DN, O'Donovan A, Bleil ME, Maninger N, Pizzagalli DA
• Anger is associated with increased IL-6 stress reactivity in women, but only among those low in social support.
  International journal of behavioral medicine 2014 Puterman E, Epel ES, O'Donovan A, Prather AA, Aschbacher K, Dhabhar FS
• Altered inflammatory activity associated with reduced hippocampal volume and more severe posttraumatic stress symptoms in Gulf War veterans.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014 O'Donovan A, Chao LL, Paulson J, Samuelson KW, Shigenaga JK, Grunfeld C, Weiner MW, Neylan TC
• Hyperinsulinemic response to oral glucose challenge in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014 Rao MN, Chau A, Madden E, Inslicht S, Talbot L, Richards A, O'Donovan A, Ruoff L, Grunfeld C, Neylan TC
• Sex differences in neurosteroid and hormonal responses to metyrapone in posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychopharmacology 2014 Inslicht SS, Richards A, Madden E, Rao MN, O'Donovan A, Talbot LS, Rucker E, Metzler TJ, Hauger RL, Neylan TC
• Oxytocin administration enhances controlled social cognition in patients with schizophrenia.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014 Woolley JD, Chuang B, Lam O, Lai W, O'Donovan A, Rankin KP, Mathalon DH, Vinogradov S
• Inflammation and depression: unraveling the complex interplay in inflammatory bowel disease.
  Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 2014 O'Donovan A
• Implicit measurement of positive and negative future thinking as a predictor of depressive symptoms and hopelessness.
  Consciousness and cognition 2013 Kosnes L, Whelan R, O'Donovan A, McHugh LA
• Suicidal ideation is associated with elevated inflammation in patients with major depressive disorder.
  Depression and anxiety 2013 O'Donovan A, Rush G, Hoatam G, Hughes BM, McCrohan A, Kelleher C, O'Farrelly C, Malone KM
• Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013 Aschbacher K, O'Donovan A, Wolkowitz OM, Dhabhar FS, Su Y, Epel E
• Exaggerated neurobiological sensitivity to threat as a mechanism linking anxiety with increased risk for diseases of aging.
  Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2012 O'Donovan A, Slavich GM, Epel ES, Neylan TC
• Educational attainment and late life telomere length in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2012 Adler N, Pantell MS, O'Donovan A, Blackburn E, Cawthon R, Koster A, Opresko P, Newman A, Harris TB, Epel E
• Lifetime exposure to traumatic psychological stress is associated with elevated inflammation in the Heart and Soul Study.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2012 O'Donovan A, Neylan TC, Metzler T, Cohen BE
• Stress appraisals and cellular aging: a key role for anticipatory threat in the relationship between psychological stress and telomere length.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2012 O'Donovan A, Tomiyama AJ, Lin J, Puterman E, Adler NE, Kemeny M, Wolkowitz OM, Blackburn EH, Epel ES
• Does cellular aging relate to patterns of allostasis? An examination of basal and stress reactive HPA axis activity and telomere length.
  Physiology & behavior 2011 Tomiyama AJ, O'Donovan A, Lin J, Puterman E, Lazaro A, Chan J, Dhabhar FS, Wolkowitz O, Kirschbaum C, Blackburn E, Epel E
• Shorter leukocyte telomere length in midlife women with poor sleep quality.
  Journal of aging research 2011 Prather AA, Puterman E, Lin J, O'Donovan A, Krauss J, Tomiyama AJ, Epel ES, Blackburn EH
• Physical activity moderates effects of stressor-induced rumination on cortisol reactivity.
  Psychosomatic medicine 2011 Puterman E, O'Donovan A, Adler NE, Tomiyama AJ, Kemeny M, Wolkowitz OM, Epel E
• Cumulative inflammatory load is associated with short leukocyte telomere length in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.
  PloS one 2011 O'Donovan A, Pantell MS, Puterman E, Dhabhar FS, Blackburn EH, Yaffe K, Cawthon RM, Opresko PL, Hsueh WC, Satterfield S, Newman AB, Ayonayon HN, Rubin SM, Harris TB, Epel ES, Health Aging and Body …
• Transcriptional control of monocyte gene expression in post-traumatic stress disorder.
  Disease markers 2011 O'Donovan A, Sun B, Cole S, Rempel H, Lenoci M, Pulliam L, Neylan T
• Suppressed monocyte gene expression profile in men versus women with PTSD.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2010 Neylan TC, Sun B, Rempel H, Ross J, Lenoci M, O'Donovan A, Pulliam L
• The power of exercise: buffering the effect of chronic stress on telomere length.
  PloS one 2010 Puterman E, Lin J, Blackburn E, O'Donovan A, Adler N, Epel E
• Clinical anxiety, cortisol and interleukin-6: evidence for specificity in emotion-biology relationships.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2010 O'Donovan A, Hughes BM, Slavich GM, Lynch L, Cronin MT, O'Farrelly C, Malone KM
• Black sheep get the blues: a psychobiological model of social rejection and depression.
  Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2010 Slavich GM, O'Donovan A, Epel ES, Kemeny ME
• Pessimism correlates with leukocyte telomere shortness and elevated interleukin-6 in post-menopausal women.
  Brain, behavior, and immunity 2008 O'Donovan A, Lin J, Tillie J, Tillie JM, Dhabhar FS, Wolkowitz OM, Wolkowitz O, Blackburn EH, Blackburn E, Epel ES, Epel E
• Access to social support in life and in the laboratory: combined impact on cardiovascular reactivity to stress and state anxiety.
  Journal of health psychology 2008 O'Donovan A, Hughes BM
• Quality of life predicts outcome in a heart failure disease management program.
  International journal of cardiology 2008 O'Loughlin C, Murphy NF, Conlon C, O'Donovan A, Ledwidge M, McDonald K
• Factors that moderate the effects of social support on cardiovascular reactivity to stress
  Int J Psychol. & Psychol. Therapy 2008 O'Donovan, A. Hughes, B.M.
• Social support and loneliness in college students: effects on pulse pressure reactivity to acute stress.
  International journal of adolescent medicine and health 2007 O'Donovan A, Hughes B
• Citation Analysis of Skinner's Verbal Behavior: 1984-2004.
  The Behavior analyst 2006 Dymond S, O'Hora D, Whelan R, O'Donovan A
• Your best interests at heart?
  The Psychologist 2006 O'Donovan, A. Hughes, B.M.