Rachel Yehuda, PhD
img_Rachel Yehuda
PROFESSOR | Psychiatry
PROFESSOR | Neuroscience
Research Topics
Behavioral Health, Brain, Brain Imaging, Epidemiology, Epigenetics, Gene Expressions, Gene Regulation, Hormones, Lymphocytes, MRI, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Molecular Biology, Neurobiology, Positron Emission Tomography, Stress, Translation, Trauma
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Neuroscience [NEU]

Many of our programs are funded by national agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our programs are designed to gain a better scientific understanding of the biology of stress reactions, and how to treat them better. Through this funded research we have been able to gain a better understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress responses.

Stress Response
When confronted with extreme stress, the body initiates many chemical reactions to facilitate a quick escape from stress. The amygdala is the brain region that alerts the body to danger and activates hormonal systems. Activation of the hormones noradrenaline and adrenaline results in accelerated breathing, pulse, and heart rate, and increased release of energy to muscles and other organs, which literally helps people run faster from stress or mobilize a response that requires coping with the stressor head-on. Once the immediate danger has passed, other hormones, particularly the hormone cortisol, help terminate stress-activated reactions. Usually, the more stress there is, the more cortisol is needed to contain the stress response. Our work has demonstrated that trauma survivors with PTSD have higher levels of noradrenaline1,2 and lower levels of the hormone cortisol.3,4,5

Hormonal Studies of Trauma Survivors

Studies of Memory

Publications

Selected Publications

Circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA levels and glucocorticoid sensitivity in a cohort of male veterans with and without combat-related PTSD. Zachary N. Blalock, Gwyneth W.Y. Wu, Daniel Lindqvist, Caroline Trumpff, Janine D. Flory, Jue Lin, Victor I. Reus, Ryan Rampersaud, Rasha Hammamieh, Aarti Gautam, Kerry J. Ressler, Ruoting Yang, Seid Muhie, Bernie J. Daigle, Linda M. Bierer, Leroy Hood, Kai Wang, Inyoul Lee, Kelsey R. Dean, Pramod R. Somvanshi, Francis J. Doyle, Charles R. Marmar, Marti Jett, Rachel Yehuda, Owen M. Wolkowitz, Synthia H. Mellon. Translational Psychiatry

Potential causal association between gut microbiome and posttraumatic stress disorder. Qiang He, Wenjing Wang, Dingkang Xu, Yang Xiong, Chuanyuan Tao, Chao You, Lu Ma, Junpeng Ma, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Adam X. Maihofer, Torsten Klengel, Elizabeth G. Atkinson, Chia Yen Chen, Karmel W. Choi, Jonathan R.I. Coleman, Shareefa Dalvie, Laramie E. Duncan, Mark W. Logue, Allison C. Provost, Andrew Ratanatharathorn, Murray B. Stein, Katy Torres, Allison E. Aiello, Lynn M. Almli, Ananda B. Amstadter, Søren B. Andersen, Ole A. Andreassen, Paul A. Arbisi, Allison E. Ashley-Koch, S. Bryn Austin, Esmina Avdibegovic, Dragan Babić, Marie Bækvad-Hansen, Dewleen G. Baker, Jean C. Beckham, Laura J. Bierut, Jonathan I. Bisson, Marco P. Boks, Elizabeth A. Bolger, Anders D. Børglum, Bekh Bradley, Megan Brashear, Gerome Breen, Richard A. Bryant, Angela C. Bustamante, Jonas Bybjerg-Grauholm, Joseph R. Calabrese, José M. Caldas-de-Almeida, Anders M. Dale, Mark J. Daly, Nikolaos P. Daskalakis, Jürgen Deckert, Douglas L. Delahanty, Michelle F. Dennis, Seth G. Disner, Katharina Domschke, Alma Dzubur-Kulenovic, Christopher R. Erbes, Alexandra Evans, Lindsay A. Farrer, Norah C. Feeny, Janine D. Flory, David Forbes, Carol E. Franz, Sandro Galea, Melanie E. Garrett, Bizu Gelaye, Joel Gelernter, Elbert Geuze, Charles Gillespie, Aferdita Goci Uka, Scott D. Gordon, Guia Guffanti, Rasha Hammamieh, Supriya Harnal, Michael A. Hauser, Andrew C. Heath, Sian M.J. Hemmings, David Michael Hougaard, Miro Jakovljevic, Marti Jett, Eric Otto Johnson, Ian Jones, Tanja Jovanovic, Xue Jun Qin, Angela G. Junglen, Karen Inge Karstoft, Milissa L. Kaufman, Ronald C. Kessler, Alaptagin Khan, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Anthony P. King, Nastassja Koen, Henry R. Kranzler, William S. Kremen, Bruce R. Lawford, Lauren A.M. Lebois, Catrin E. Lewis, Sarah D. Linnstaedt, Adriana Lori, Bozo Lugonja, Jurjen J. Luykx, Michael J. Lyons, Jessica Maples-Keller, Charles Marmar, Alicia R. Martin, Nicholas G. Martin, Douglas Maurer, Matig R. Mavissakalian, Alexander McFarlane, Regina E. McGlinchey, Katie A. McLaughlin, Samuel A. McLean, Sarah McLeay, Divya Mehta, William P. Milberg, Mark W. Miller, Rajendra A. Morey, Charles Phillip Morris, Ole Mors, Preben B. Mortensen, Benjamin M. Neale, Elliot C. Nelson, Merete Nordentoft, Sonya B. Norman, Meaghan O’Donnell, Holly K. Orcutt, Matthew S. Panizzon, Edward S. Peters, Alan L. Peterson, Matthew Peverill, Robert H. Pietrzak, Melissa A. Polusny, John P. Rice, Stephan Ripke, Victoria B. Risbrough, Andrea L. Roberts, Alex O. Rothbaum, Barbara O. Rothbaum, Peter Roy-Byrne, Ken Ruggiero, Ariane Rung, Bart P.F. Rutten, Nancy L. Saccone, Sixto E. Sanchez, Dick Schijven, Soraya Seedat, Antonia V. Seligowski, Julia S. Seng, Christina M. Sheerin, Derrick Silove, Alicia K. Smith, Jordan W. Smoller, Nadia Solovieff, Scott R. Sponheim, Dan J. Stein, Jennifer A. Sumner, Martin H. Teicher, Wesley K. Thompson, Edward Trapido, Monica Uddin, Robert J. Ursano, Leigh Luella van den Heuvel, Miranda van Hooff, Eric Vermetten, Christiaan H. Vinkers, Joanne Voisey, Yunpeng Wang, Zhewu Wang, Thomas Werge, Michelle A. Williams, Douglas E. Williamson, Sherry Winternitz, Christiane Wolf, Erika J. Wolf, Jonathan D. Wolff, Rachel Yehuda, Keith A. Young, Ross Mc D. Young, Hongyu Zhao, Lori A. Zoellner, Israel Liberzon, Kerry J. Ressler, Magali Haas, Karestan C. Koenen. Translational Psychiatry

Effects of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD on self-experience. Bessel A. van der Kolk, Julie B. Wang, Rachel Yehuda, Leah Bedrosian, Allison R. Coker, Charlotte Harrison, Michael Mithoefer, Berra Yazar-Klosinki, Amy Emerson, Rick Doblin. PLoS ONE

View All Publications

Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Vice Chair for Veterans Affairs for Psychiatry

Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology companies, and other outside entities to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their outside financial relationships.

Below are financial relationships with industry reported by Dr. Yehuda during 2023 and/or 2024. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.

Consulting or Other Professional Services: Examples include, but are not limited to, committee participation, data safety monitoring board (DSMB) membership

  • Aspen Ideas
  • Tabula Rasa Ventures
  • The Israeli Society for Sexual Trauma Treatment & Prevention (ISTT)
  • YPO, Inc.
  • The Horizons Center PBC, Inc.
  • Psychiatric Times
  • Action Trauma
  • Trauma Research Foundation, Inc.
  • Paragon Biosciences
  • Winter Conference on Brain Research

Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.