Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Core Faculty, Clinical Science
Affiliate Faculty, Cognitive Neuroscience & Biopsychology
Director, Spectrum of Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience (SPAN) Lab
Core Faculty, Clinical Science
Affiliate Faculty, Cognitive Neuroscience & Biopsychology
Director, Spectrum of Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience (SPAN) Lab
EMail
Office Hours
Fall 2024: Tues 1:30-3PM (Zoom or in-person) and Thurs 9-10:30AM (Zoom only), or by appointment
Zoom link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/2611991568
Zoom link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/2611991568
Office Address
Clinical Science Suite - Room 109
460 Turner Street NW
Blacksburg, VA 24060
460 Turner Street NW
Blacksburg, VA 24060
Office Phone
Accepting Students?
Accepting students in Clinical Science
Research Center/Lab
Web Link
Web Link 2
Link(s) To Publications
Curriculum Vitae
Short Bio
I am an Assistant Professor of Clinical Science in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology at Duke University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
Comorbidity of mental disorders is a major problem for mental health research and practice. My research aims to address this problem by employing a transdiagnostic, dimensional, and neuroscience-informed approach to the study of the etiology and development of multiple forms of psychopathology. I combine clinical (e.g., diagnostic interview and questionnaire), behavioral (e.g., neurocognitive, affective, personality testing), and multi-modal neuroimaging (e.g., structural and functional MRI) methods to examine shared risk markers of psychopathology at multiple levels of analysis in adolescents and adults. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide novel insights on transdiagnostic targets for interventions to improve outcomes for individuals whose symptoms span traditional diagnostic categories.
**I am planning to review applications for the Clinical Science PhD program for the 2025-2026 academic year.**
Comorbidity of mental disorders is a major problem for mental health research and practice. My research aims to address this problem by employing a transdiagnostic, dimensional, and neuroscience-informed approach to the study of the etiology and development of multiple forms of psychopathology. I combine clinical (e.g., diagnostic interview and questionnaire), behavioral (e.g., neurocognitive, affective, personality testing), and multi-modal neuroimaging (e.g., structural and functional MRI) methods to examine shared risk markers of psychopathology at multiple levels of analysis in adolescents and adults. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide novel insights on transdiagnostic targets for interventions to improve outcomes for individuals whose symptoms span traditional diagnostic categories.
**I am planning to review applications for the Clinical Science PhD program for the 2025-2026 academic year.**
Interests
- Transdiagnostic and dimensional approaches to the study of the causes, risk factors, and development of psychopathology across traditional diagnostic boundaries
- Mental disorder comorbidity
- Cognitive-affective processes commonly dysfunctional in mental disorders (e.g., executive functioning and emotion regulation)
- Neural circuit alterations assessed using structural and functional MRI methods
- Adolescent and young adult populations
Select Publications
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Romer, A. L., Ren, B., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2023). Brain structure relations with psychopathology trajectories in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study®. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 62, 895-907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.02.002
- Giusto, A.,* Romer, A. L.,* Lovero, K., Fortunado dos Santos, P., Greene, C., Gouveia, L., Suleman, A., Feliciano, P., Oquendo, M., Mootz, J., & Wainberg, M. L. (2023). Examination of the factor structure of psychopathology in a Mozambican sample. Clinical Psychological Science, 11, 409-424. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221122773
- Yang, Y., Shields, G. S., Zhang, Y., Wu, H., Chen, H., & Romer, A. L. Child executive function and future externalizing and internalizing problems: A meta-analysis of prospective longitudinal studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 97, (published online). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102194
- Romer, A. L., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2022). Associations between brain structural alterations, executive dysfunction, and general psychopathology in a healthy and cross-diagnostic adult patient sample. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 2, 17-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.06.002
- Romer, A. L., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2021). Is executive dysfunction a risk marker or consequence of psychopathology? A test of executive function as a prospective predictor and outcome of general psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study®. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 51, (published online). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100994
- Romer, A. L., Hariri, A. R., & Strauman, T. J. (2021). Regulatory focus and the p factor: Evidence for self-regulatory dysfunction as a transdiagnostic feature of general psychopathology. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 137, 178-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.051
- Romer, A. L., Elliott, M. L., Knodt, A. R., Sison, M. L., Ireland, D., Houts, R., Ramrakha, S., Poulton, R., Keenan, R., Melzer, T. R., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Hariri, A. R. (2021). Pervasively thinner neocortex as a transdiagnostic feature of general psychopathology. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 174-182. https://doi-org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19090934
- Romer, A. L., Knodt, A. R., Sison, M., Ireland, D., Ramrakha, S., Poulton, R., Keenan, R., Melzer, T. R., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Hariri, A. R. (2021). Replicability of structural brain alterations associated with general psychopathology: Evidence from a population-representative birth cohort. Molecular Psychiatry, 26, 3839-3846.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0621-z
- Romer, A. L., Knodt, A. R., Houts, R., Brigidi, B. D., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A. C., & Hariri, A. R. (2018). Structural alterations within cerebellar circuitry are associated with general liability for common mental disorders. Molecular Psychiatry, 23, 1084-1090. https://doi-org/10.1038/mp.2017.57
- Elliott, M.L., Romer, A. L., Knodt, A. R., & Hariri, A. R. (2018). A connectome wide functional signature of transdiagnostic risk for mental illness. Biological Psychiatry, 84, 452-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.03.012
Degrees
- Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (2019) - Duke University
- M.A. in Clinical Psychology (2016) - Duke University
- B.S. in Human Development (2011) - Cornell University