Jessica E. Flannery, PhD
Translational Scientist & Developmental Researcher
Licensed Psychologist (WA, CO, NC)
About Me
Digital Mental Health | Clinical Psychology | Developmental Neuroscience
I triangulate my 10+ years of expertise in mental health, child and adolescent development, scientific rigor, cross-functional collaboration, and technology to drive innovation and improve patient outcomes in digital health.
My PhD and postdoctoral research focused on how neurobiological development influences mental and physical health trajectories. In particular, I sought to understand how sensitive periods of neurobiological development create both vulnerabilities to environmental adversity as well as opportunities for prevention and intervention. To do so, I took an interdisciplinary approach across neural, hormonal, microbial, and psychosocial indices to assess the emergence of mental health symptoms and health-risk behaviors during adolescence.
News
Recent News and Updates
2022 Check out our cross-fuctional framework into defining and measuring meaningful engagement in digital theraputics
2022 Excited to define the role of clinical science in the development of digital therauptics at Limbix as the Head of Clinical Science
2021 Thrilled to announce I've joined the Limbix team as their Clinical Research Scientist!
2021 I'm excited to join the clinical team at Dogwood Psychology Center for Children & Families!
Research
Digital Health
How can we leverage technology to increase quality, evidenced-based, and equitable care?
How do digital therapeutics fit within the stepped-
care model of mental health?
How can embedding clinical science within product development transform the impact of digital therapeutics?
I work to answer these and related questions as the Head of Clinical Science at Limbix Health. I oversee the development and implementation of innovative digital solutions to improve patient outcomes and enhance the delivery of mental health care.
Developmental Social & Affective Neuroscience
How does social and affective brain function and functional connectivity influence
mental health and health-risk behavior during adolescence?
I study these questions using task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and resting state functional connectivity MRI.
Taxonomic & Functional Gut Microbiome
How do the bacteria and functional capacity of these microbes in our large intestines influence our
mood and brain function during development?
I study these questions using 16sr RNA microbial sequencing to identify "who is there" and shotgun metagenomics to identify "what they are doing."
Psychosocial Environment
How do social and cultural environments influence the development of mental health and health risk behaviors,
such as depression and risk-taking behaviors?
How can these psychosocial environments alter the trajectory of developing neurobiology, including brain, neuroendocrine, and microbiome function -- for better or for worse?
I study these questions by studying children with a history of foster care or child welfare involvement. More recently, I have extended these questions to see how a range of early and chronic childhood adversity, including poor economic and social environments can influence the trajectory of behavioral and neurobiological development.
Previously, I worked under Dr. Nim Tottenham at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to study social and emotional brain and hormonal development of children that had been institutionalized abroad and are now adopted in the USA.
Clinical Experience
My clinical training focuses on parent training, pediatric neuropsychology, psychological assessments, and adolescent depression. I completed my psychology residency at Seattle Children's Hospital / University of Washington's School of Medicine. There my training included a broad range of child and adolescent psychiatric and medical disorders in the context of outpatient neuropsychological assessments, outpatient child therapy and parent management training, as well as inpatient child psychiatry behavioral medical unit therapy and inpatient psychology consult & liaison. Previously, I primarily used neuropsychological assessments with children and adolescents displaying complex social, cognitive, and medical life histories, as well as mild traumatic brain injuries. My theoretical orientation integrates cognitive behavioral and biopsychosocial approaches.
Pediatric Neuropsychology & Psychological Assessment
I trained in general pediatric psychological evaluations and in pediatric neuropsychological evaluations with children 4-18 years old in an outpatient clinic. Training occurred in the context of a multidisciplinary team, including a psychologist, social worker, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, and developmental pediatrician. Neuropsychological evaluations occurred in the context of a multidisciplinary team and full-day single team evaluations.
I also training in pediatric neuropsychology at a sports medicine outpatient clinic, specifically focused on concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.Assessment training include, but not limited to:- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
- Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
- Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II)
- Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)
- Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS)
- California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)
- California Verbal Learning Test- Child (CVLT-C)
- Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML)
- A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY), Memory for Designs subscale
- Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
- Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS)
- Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
- Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT)
Social Learning & Behaviorally-Based Interventions
I trained in a community mental health agency, as part of the Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC) team. I was specifically trained in the intervention, Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care- Preschool (MTFC-P). Theoretical orientation was centered in social learning and behavioral theory and Parent Management Training Oregon (PMTO). I worked as an individual child therapist and group therapy leader for children 3-8 years old.
I was trained and served as an intervention coach for the strength-based parenting intervention for parents of low socioeconomic status, led by Dr. Philip Fisher, Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND). I additionally served as an intervention coach for a pilot parenting intervention for depressed mothers of adolescents, led by Dr. Nicholas Allen and Dr. Lisa Sheeber.
Pediatric diagnostic training include, but not limited to:
Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS)
Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS)
Additional training include, but not limited to:
Behavioral Activation
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) - online course
Incredible Years (IY), parent behavioral management training (PBMT)
Collaborative Assessment & Management of Suicidality (CAMS) Training Certificates in:
- Introduction to CAMS with Focus on Initial Assessments and Single Session Intervention
- Conducting CAMS in Outpatient Care to Resolve Suicidality
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
I trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This included individual therapy with adults 18- 25 years old for anxiety and mood-related disorders.
Adult diagnostic training including:
Structural Clinical Interview for DSM IV, V (SCID I).
Mindfulness-Based Therapies
I trained in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This included group therapy with adults 18-70 years old.
Open science Trainings & contributions
Trainings.
ABCD-RepoNim Course (Oct 16 2020 - Feb 26 2021)
NIH Beyond Statistical Significance: Finding Meaningful Effects (Sept 2, 2020)
Neurohackademy (July 27 – 31, 2020)
NIBL fMRI Reproducibility Workshop (December 11-15, 2017)
BrainHack Global, Eugene Chapter participant (2017, 2018, 2019)
Contributions.
Flannery, J., (2019, November). Preregistration: updated challenges and solutions for complex study design.
Presented at BrainHack Global, Eugene Chapter.
Flannery, J. (2018, October). Flannery Dissertation Preregistration: The “Depressed” Gut-Brain Axis during Adolescence.
Flannery, J., (2018, May). Preregistration: Challenges and Solutions for fMRI.
Presented at BrainHack Global, Eugene Chapter.
Flannery, J. (2018, May). fMRI Preregistration Template.
Follow Updates
Social Media and Lab Affliations
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
Twitter
Research Gate
Limbix
FLUX Trainee Committee
WiFi Initiative
Developmental Social Neuroscience Lab UNC Chapel Hill
Developmental Social Neuroscience Lab UO
Stress Neurobiology and Prevention Lab UO
