Nicole Schlegel

Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Department of Psychiatry
Uniformed Services University

Nicole received her B.A. in psychology with a minor in neuroscience from Grinnell College in 2022. As an undergraduate student in the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab, she used neuroanatomical techniques to study stress and emotional memory during adolescent development. After graduating, Nicole worked as a research coordinator at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, assisting with clinical trials on novel pharmacological interventions for treatment-resistant depression and alcohol use. Her research interests lie in identifying risk and protective factors that contribute to stress-related mood and substance use disorders. At CSTS, Nicole is part of the Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) team partnering with DARPA to support their STRENGTHEN program, which aims to develop novel neurobehavioral interventions that target cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation to reduce the negative effects of traumatic stress and prevent suicide.