More than 19 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders.  Millions more suffer from conditions such as stress and trauma.  These conditions often result in severe emotional distress and impairment in social, occupational and academic functioning.  Moreover, these conditions often are associated with increased medical problems.  The Anxiety, Stress and Trauma Research Network (ASTRN) is dedicated to investigating the causes, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of these devastating disorders as well as the anxiety-related biological functions of fear, startle, arousal and sleep.

The ASTRN is a multi-site, multi-disciplinary network of psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuroscientists dedicated to the study of stress, trauma, sleep, and anxiety.  State-of-the-art facilities and interdisciplinary collaborations put our network on the cutting edge of research and clinical practice.  In addition to the facility at Penn State College of Medicine/Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, clinical research centers also exist at Penn State University Park and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center at Lebanon, PA.

Research activities of the ASTRN are very diverse and include assessment studies of neurobiology and neurophysiology as well as treatment development and intervention.  Among the research activities are studies of sleep and respiration in individuals who suffer night time panic attacks, the phenomenology of sleep paralysis, life events occurring in patients with anxiety disorders, behavioral treatment studies for adults and children with social phobia, studies of neuroactivity of mothers and fathers upon hearing their infants cry, and stress responses in those with cancer. 

Center for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression - University Park

Michelle G. Newman, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology at Penn State University and Director of the Center for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression.  In addition to serving the treatment needs of children and adults with depressive and anxiety disorders, the Center also conducts clinical research studies which address the etiology, course, assessment, and outcomes of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, and Panic Disorder.  Clinical trials of specific treatment approaches including interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and other experiential therapies are currently in progress and hold great promise to improve the outcomes for patients with anxiety disorders.

Tom Borkovec, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at Penn State University and leads a group of scientists studying the mechanisms of human anxiety, including cognitive and psychophysiological factors, and potential clinical interventions.  Utilizing a combined outcome and basic laboratory research model, Dr. Borkovec and colleagues are currently comparing two cognitive behavioral conditions to determine potential improvements to cognitive behavioral treatment.

The ASTRN is unique in that it is one of the few clinical research networks in the country that includes efforts to understand these disorders in children, adolescents and adults.  Furthermore, the ASTRN serves as an educational and consultative resource for Central Pennsylvania and seeks to establish collaborative research endeavors with others with similar research interests.

Panic, Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma Imaging Laboratory (PASTIL)

Ravi Singareddy, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.  Dr. Singareddy's primary areas of research in the investigation of sleep disorders, sleep in anxiety and obesity, heart rate variability and QT variability in anxiety, and medical disorders in anxiety and mood disorders.