THRIVE LABORATORY

THRIVE Lab Director Dr. O’Donovan completed undergraduate and graduate programs at University College Cork, the National University of Ireland, Galway, and University College Dublin in her native Ireland before coming to UCSF for graduate and postdoctoral training. In her current role as Associate Professor In Residence in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Weill Institute for Neurosciences and Research Psychologist in the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, she runs a laboratory dedicated to uncovering the mechanisms linking psychological stress exposure with ill health. Her lab conducts studies that determine both the effects of psychological stressors on the immune system, and the health consequences of stressor-related immune dysfunction. Many of their findings converge on altered inflammatory activity as a central mechanism linking stressor exposure with increased risk for mental and physical health problems. The lab is particularly focused on traumatic stressors, which are stressors involving threat of death, serious injury, or sexual violence, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The ultimate goal is to identify and develop interventions that can reduce the long-term negative impact of psychological stressors. Studies in the lab are currently investigating the potential of both digital app-based and pharmacological interventions. Outside of the lab, Aoife enjoys hiking, biking and skiing in the Bay Area and trips to Ireland.

Dr. Nishimi completed her MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2016 and PhD in Population Health Sciences in 2020 at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Her graduate training in social and psychiatric epidemiology focused on the social determinants of health, psychosocial stress and development, and quantitative research methods for causal inference. Her research examines the impact of trauma and adversity exposure on both mental and physical health outcomes across the life course. Specifically, she aims to use rigorous epidemiological and data science methods to uncover biological mechanisms linking trauma to chronic health outcomes and to understand multilevel processes of psychological resilience.

Check out Dr. Nishimi Google Scholar profile here.

D. Parker Kelley, PhD is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California San Francisco in the Translating Psychedelic Research (TrPR) program working under Dr. Josh Woolley. Parker is also an affiliate Post-Doctoral Fellow in the THRIVE lab at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) working under Dr. Aoife O’Donovan.

Dr. Kelley began his post graduate studies at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in the Nutritional Neuroscience and Aging Lab under Dr. Donald Ingram studying the effects of calorie restriction on aging related disease and considers metabolism and allostatic load to be his fundamental orientations to the study of stress-associated disease. Dr. Kelley completed his doctorate in Biomedical Sciences at Louisiana State University studying molecular mechanisms of allostatic load and hippocampal dysfunction in rodent models of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and investigating experimental therapeutics for PTSD and depression. Dr. Kelley is trained in molecular biology, psychopharmacology, and behavioral neuroscience. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Kelley utilized multiple omics technologies including RNA Sequencing, LC-MS based Lipidomics, and Metabolomics to study the effects of stress on the hippocampus in rodent models and the effects of an anti-oxidant blueberry concentrate in blood of human patients diagnosed with depression and anxiety. In addition, Dr. Kelley is trained in the use of cutting edge techniques to measure mitochondrial function in tissue samples, the use of behavioral assays to study hippocampal contextual memory processing and pattern separation in rodent models, and psychometric evaluations in humans, all of which he seeks to translate into the study human patients with PTSD during his post-doctoral fellowship. Dr. Kelley is interested in the use of 5-HT2A agonist psychedelic drugs and other experimental therapeutics for PTSD. Dr. Kelley published on the use of pharmahuasca, a drug combination including N, N dimethyltryptamine, a 5-HT2A agonist psychedelic drug and harmaline, a beta Carboline MAOI in a rat model of PTSD progression and observed that pharmahuasca rescues aberrant gene expression in the prefrontal cortex overlapping between the model and human PTSD, and rescues aberrant reactive oxygen species production, indicative of neuroprotective effects. Dr. Kelley is also interested in philosophy of mind and bioethics and is currently working on several projects in this area.

Dr. Kelley was awarded the Heidi Lott Scholarship from the Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at Louisiana State University and has published in high impact journals including Geroscience, Journal of Gerontology, Royal Society of Chemistry Advances, and American Chemical Society Chemical Neuroscience.

Check out Dr. Kelley's Google Scholar profile here.

Dr. Audrey Morrow is a NIDA T32 postdoctoral fellow, conducting research aimed at understanding neuroplasticity as it relates to substance use, stress and trauma-related disorders, and psychedelics as a potential treatment intervention. Audrey earned a Master's degree in psychology from New Mexico State University and her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Given the focus of her doctoral work on attention and visual perception, she remains interested in exploring how attention and other cognitive functions change during the development of stress and substance use disorders or the use of psychedelics, as well as why cognitive functioning varies across clinical populations.

Tommy graduated from Bates College with a B.A. in Psychology. He currently works at the THRIVE Lab as the research coordinator for the SMART Study, which is evaluating an app-based intervention to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress. His research interests include exploring the relationship between nutritional supplementation and mental health, the microbiome’s role in managing chronic health conditions, and the importance of effective communication about healthy food choices. He plans to pursue a Master of Public Health in Nutrition. In his free time, Tommy enjoys exploring the world of lacto-fermentation, foraging, and cooking with gourmet mushrooms.

Rachel graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology (Neurobiology emphasis) and Psychology. She is currently working at the THRIVE lab to better understand how psychological stress can affect health and cognition. Her research interests include examining sex differences in symptoms involved in various diseases, like PTSD.  She intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading and taking walks with the neighborhood cats.

Michael earned a B.A. in both Psychology and Communication from UCLA. His research interests focus on the neural mechanisms underlying trauma and PTSD. Michael aspires to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Mary Smirnova is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at University of Nevada, Reno. Mary's current research focuses on examining risk and resilience factors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and utilizing these factors to help guide treatment. Specifically, she is interested in leveraging social support and gratitude to help individuals with elevated PTSD symptoms. Additionally, she is excited about examining the relationship between biological factors, such as inflammatory markers, and the development of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Check out Mary's Google Scholar profile here.

Audrey is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, studying Public Health and Data Science and graduating in 2025. She is passionate about leveraging transparent and accessible computational methods to improve healthcare outcomes, and intends to pursue an MPH in Epidemiology/Biostatistics after graduation. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, listening to music, and baseball. 

Yunseo Lee is an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, graduating in 2025 with a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology (Molecular Therapeutics emphasis) and Psychology. She hopes to pursue an M.D., with a strong passion for clinical psychology and neurology. Yunseo joined the THRIVE Lab to explore the connection between biological and psychological factors in mental health, aiming to better understand how physiological processes may influence psychiatric conditions.