Sabra Inslicht, PhD
Professor
Psychiatry
School of Medicine

My research goals include: 1) identifying psychobiological causes and consequences of traumatic stress symptoms; 2) utilizing fear conditioning and extinction models to better understand PTSD; 3) characterizing sex differences in the biology of PTSD; 4) improving measurement techniques in the laboratory and the field such as with mobile health devices; and 5) conducting research that will inform novel interventions for ameliorating prolonged PTSD responses.…

Education & Training

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• Postdoctoral Studies Graduate Division University of California, San Francisco 2008
• Postdoctoral Studies Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology Stanford University Medical Center 2003
• Ph.D. Clinical and Health Psychology University of Pittsburgh 2002
• Internship Clinical Psychology VA Palo Alto Healthcare System 2002
• MS Clinical and Health Psychology University of Pittsburgh 1998
• BA Psychology Rutgers University 1994
• Psychology Honors Program University of Haifa 1993

Interests

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• Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD
• Infertility
• Fear conditioning
• insomnia
• Psychophysiology
• Psychoneuroendocrinology
• Women's Heart Disease
• PTSD
• Ovarian Aging

Websites

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• VA Advanced Fellowship in Women's Health (psych.ucsf.edu)
• Inslicht Lab Website (starlab.ucsf.edu)
• VA MIRECC Postdoctoral Fellowship in PTSD/Trauma Research (psych.ucsf.edu)

Grants and Projects

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• Suvorexant: A Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist for Treating Sleep Disturbance inPosttraumatic Stress, NIH, 2019-2023
• Individual Variation in Effects of Traumatic Stress on Gray Matter Myelin, NIH, 2018-2023
• Improving Health Care for Women Veterans: Addressing Menopause and Mental Health, NIH, 2018-2023
• Sex differences in stress-related cardiometabolic risk in PTSD, , 2020-2022
• Sex Differences in Fear Conditioning: Mechanisms of Risk and Resilience for PTSD, NIH, 2014-2020
• Metabolomics: A window for understanding long-term physical consequences of disturbed sleep and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in posttraumatic stress., Department of Defense, Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), Discovery Award, 2016-2020
• Mobile Technology-Based Examination of Biomarkers of Treatment Response in Exposure-Based Psychotherapy for PTSD, UCSF: Department of Psychiatry’s Digital Health Core, 2016-2019

Publications (61)

Top publication keywords:
Stress Disorders, Post-TraumaticConditioning, ClassicalPituitary-Adrenal SystemReflex, StartleHydrocortisoneGalvanic Skin ResponseCycloserineFearImplosive TherapySleep Wake DisordersHypothalamo-Hypophyseal SystemSleepPoliceMetyraponeVeterans

• PACAP associated with precise PTSD and fear extinction response in women.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2025 Adams SW, Neylan TC, May V, Hammack SE, Ressler K, Inslicht SS
• Gut-Brain Axis: Role of Microbiome, Metabolomics, Hormones, and Stress in Mental Health Disorders.
  Cells 2024 Verma A, Inslicht SS, Bhargava A
• An exploratory study on lipidomic profiles in a cohort of individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Scientific reports 2024 Bhargava A, Knapp JD, Fiehn O, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS
• Tumor Suppressor MicroRNAs in Clinical and Preclinical Trials for Neurological Disorders.
  Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) 2024 Lui A, Do T, Alzayat O, Yu N, Phyu S, Santuya HJ, Liang B, Kailash V, Liu D, Inslicht SS, Shahlaie K, Liu D
• The lipidome of posttraumatic stress disorder.
  bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024 Bhargava A, Knapp JD, Fiehn O, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS

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• The Middle-Out Approach to reconceptualizing, assessing, and analyzing traumatic stress reactions.
  Journal of traumatic stress 2023 Adams SW, Layne CM, Contractor AA, Allwood MA, Armour C, Inslicht SS, Maguen S
• Military Sexual Trauma and Menopause Symptoms Among Midlife Women Veterans.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2023 Travis KJ, Huang AJ, Maguen S, Inslicht S, Byers AL, Seal KH, Gibson CJ
• Lifetime history of interpersonal partner violence is associated with insomnia among midlife women veterans.
  Menopause (New York, N.Y.) 2023 Goldstein LA, Jakubowski KP, Huang AJ, Seal KH, Maguen S, Inslicht SS, Byers AL, Gibson CJ
• Impact of hormonal contraceptives on sex differences in fear conditioning and fear extinction in PTSD.
  Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) 2022 Bartholomew ME, Rozalski V, Richards A, Gurdock J, Thornton M, Fee C, Lipshitz SL, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS
• Comparing Heart Rate Analytical Methods to Examine Engagement During Imaginal Prolonged Exposure Therapy: Multicase Study.
  American journal of psychotherapy 2022 Cowden Hindash AH, Diamond Altman A, Levitan J, Inslicht SS
• Veterans Health Administration Screening for Military Sexual Trauma May Not Capture Over Half of Cases Among Midlife Women Veterans.
  Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health 2022 Hargrave AS, Maguen S, Inslicht SS, Byers AL, Seal KH, Huang AJ, Gibson CJ
• Racial/ethnic disparities in the diagnosis and management of menopause symptoms among midlife women veterans.
  Menopause (New York, N.Y.) 2022 Blanken A, Gibson CJ, Li Y, Huang AJ, Byers AL, Maguen S, Inslicht S, Seal K
• The relationship of fear-potentiated startle and polysomnography-measured sleep in trauma-exposed men and women with and without PTSD: testing REM sleep effects and exploring the roles of an integrative measure of sleep, PTSD symptoms, and biological sex.
  Sleep 2022 Richards A, Inslicht SS, Yack LM, Metzler TJ, Russell Huie J, Straus LD, Dukes C, Hubachek SQ, Felmingham KL, Mathalon DH, Woodward SH, Neylan TC
• Chemical set enrichment analysis: Novel insights into sex-specific alterations in primary metabolites in posttraumatic stress and disturbed sleep.
  Clinical and translational medicine 2021 Bhargava A, Fan S, Lujan CR, Fiehn O, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS
• Randomized controlled experimental study of hydrocortisone and D-cycloserine effects on fear extinction in PTSD.
  Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2021 Inslicht SS, Niles AN, Metzler TJ, Lipshitz SL, Otte C, Milad MR, Orr SP, Marmar CR, Neylan TC
• 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
• Examining the Effect of Sleep Disruption on the Neural Correlates of Fear Extinction.
  Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging 2020 Straus LD, Richards A, Inslicht SS, Dolsen EA, Neylan TC
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Work by day and sleep by night, do not sleep too little or too much: Effects of sleep duration, time of day and circadian synchrony on flanker-task performance in internet brain-game users from teens to advanced age.
  Journal of sleep research 2019 Richards A, Kanady JC, Huie JR, Straus LD, Inslicht SS, Levihn-Coon A, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC
• 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
• Psychophysiological treatment outcomes: Corticotropin-releasing factor type 1 receptor antagonist increases inhibition of fear-potentiated startle in PTSD patients.
  Psychophysiology 2019 Jovanovic T, Duncan EJ, Kaye J, Garza K, Norrholm SD, Inslicht SS, Neylan TC, Mathew SJ, Iosifescu D, Rothbaum BO, Mayberg HS, Dunlop BW
• 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
• 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
• Gender Differences in Cardiovascular Risk Related to Diabetes and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
  The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry 2018 Gibson CJ, Li Y, Inslicht SS, Seal KH, Byers AL
• 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
• Patterns of Zolpidem Use in Male and Female Veterans Following Revised FDA Dosing Guidelines.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2018 Inslicht SS, Neylan TC
• 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
• The effects of early trauma and the FKBP5 gene on PTSD and the HPA axis in a clinical sample of Gulf War veterans.
  Psychiatry research 2018 Young DA, Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC, Ross JA
• Deployment Anxiety Reduction Training: A Pilot Study of Acceptability and Feasibility in Current or Recent Active Duty Service Members.
  Military medicine 2018 McCaslin SE, Herbst ED, Armitage NH, Allen I, Neylan T, Becket-Davenport C, Choucroun G, Best S, Inslicht SS
• An Open-Label Study of Doxazosin Extended-Release for PTSD: Findings and Recommendations for Future Research on Doxazosin.
  Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) 2018 Richards A, Inslicht S, Ruoff LM, Metzler TJ, Goldstein LA, Chapman CM, Hubachek SQ, Neylan TC
• Subjective Sleep Related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Trauma-Exposed Men and Women.
  Behavioral sleep medicine 2017 Gibson CJ, Richards A, Villanueva C, Barrientos M, Neylan TC, Inslicht SS
• 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
• Repeated Exposure to Experimental Pain Differentiates Combat Traumatic Brain Injury with and without Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
  Journal of neurotrauma 2017 Strigo IA, Spadoni AD, Inslicht SS, Simmons AN
• Assessment of skin conductance in African American and Non-African American participants in studies of conditioned fear.
  Psychophysiology 2017 Alexandra Kredlow M, Pineles SL, Inslicht SS, Marin MF, Milad MR, Otto MW, Orr SP
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Prospective study of police officer spouse/partners: a new pathway to secondary trauma and relationship violence?
  PloS one 2014 Meffert SM, Henn-Haase C, Metzler TJ, Qian M, Best S, Hirschfeld A, McCaslin S, Inslicht S, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• 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
• Cortisol response to an experimental stress paradigm prospectively predicts long-term distress and resilience trajectories in response to active police service.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2014 Galatzer-Levy IR, Steenkamp MM, Brown AD, Qian M, Inslicht S, Henn-Haase C, Otte C, Yehuda R, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Sex differences in objective measures of sleep in post-traumatic stress disorder and healthy control subjects.
  Journal of sleep research 2013 Richards A, Metzler TJ, Ruoff LM, Inslicht SS, Rao M, Talbot LS, Neylan TC
• Sex differences in fear conditioning in posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2012 Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Garcia NM, Pineles SL, Milad MR, Orr SP, Marmar CR, Neylan TC
• Cortisol awakening response prospectively predicts peritraumatic and acute stress reactions in police officers.
  Biological psychiatry 2011 Inslicht SS, Otte C, McCaslin SE, Apfel BA, Henn-Haase C, Metzler T, Yehuda R, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Pretraumatic prolonged elevation of salivary MHPG predicts peritraumatic distress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2010 Apfel BA, Otte C, Inslicht SS, McCaslin SE, Henn-Haase C, Metzler TJ, Makotkine I, Yehuda R, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Protective factors for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in a prospective study of police officers.
  Psychiatry research 2010 Yuan C, Wang Z, Inslicht SS, McCaslin SE, Metzler TJ, Henn-Haase C, Apfel BA, Tong H, Neylan TC, Fang Y, Marmar CR
• Adaptation effects to sleep studies in participants with and without chronic posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychophysiology 2010 Herbst E, Metzler TJ, Lenoci M, McCaslin SE, Inslicht S, Marmar CR, Neylan TC
• A prospective study of predictors of depression symptoms in police.
  Psychiatry research 2009 Wang Z, Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Henn-Haase C, McCaslin SE, Tong H, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Routine work environment stress and PTSD symptoms in police officers.
  The Journal of nervous and mental disease 2009 Maguen S, Metzler TJ, McCaslin SE, Inslicht SS, Henn-Haase C, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Family psychiatric history, peritraumatic reactivity, and posttraumatic stress symptoms: a prospective study of police.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2009 Inslicht SS, McCaslin SE, Metzler TJ, Henn-Haase C, Hart SL, Maguen S, Neylan TC, Marmar CR
• Low expression of catecholamine-O-methyl-transferase gene in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
  Journal of anxiety disorders 2009 Wang Z, Xiao Z, Inslicht SS, Tong H, Jiang W, Wang X, Metzler T, Marmar CR, Jiang S
• Trait dissociation predicts posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in a prospective study of urban police officers.
  The Journal of nervous and mental disease 2008 McCaslin SE, Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Henn-Haase C, Maguen S, Neylan TC, Choucroun G, Marmar CR
• A prospective study of trait anger and PTSD symptoms in police.
  Journal of traumatic stress 2008 Meffert SM, Metzler TJ, Henn-Haase C, McCaslin S, Inslicht S, Chemtob C, Neylan T, Marmar CR
• Association between alexithymia and neuroendocrine response to psychological stress in police academy recruits.
  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2006 McCaslin SE, Inslicht SS, Neylan TC, Metzler TJ, Otte C, Lenoci M, Henn-Haase C, Best S, Yehuda R, Marmar CR
• Increased cortisol in women with intimate partner violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2006 Inslicht SS, Marmar CR, Neylan TC, Metzler TJ, Hart SL, Otte C, McCaslin SE, Larkin GL, Hyman KB, Baum A
• Increased cortisol in women with intimate partner violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology 2006 Inslicht SS, Marmar CR, Neylan TC, Metzler TJ, Hart SL, Otte C, McCaslin SE, Larkin GL, Hyman KB, Baum A
• Posttraumatic stress associated with cancer history and BRCA1/2 genetic testing.
  Psychosomatic medicine 2005 Hamann HA, Somers TJ, Smith AW, Inslicht SS, Baum A
• Similarity of prior trauma exposure as a determinant of chronic stress responding to an airline disaster.
  Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2000 Dougall AL, Herberman HB, Delahanty DL, Inslicht SS, Baum A