Lana Ruvolo Grasser
Dr. Lana Ruvolo Grasser (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Ben L. Silberstein Institute for Brain Health at Wayne State University. Dr. Grasser recently completed her postdoctoral training with the Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit (NNT) within the Emotion and Development Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health. She received her BS from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. from Wayne State University, where her NIMH-funded dissertation project, “Biomarkers of Risk and Resilience to Trauma in Syrian Refugee Youth”, identified skin conductance response to trauma interview and fear potentiated startle as candidate biomarkers of trauma-related psychopathology in youth exposed to civilian war trauma and forced migration. Dr. Grasser received the 2022 International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Dissertation Award for this work. Dr. Grasser has extended this work to query efficacy and underlying mechanisms of creative arts and movement therapies to address trauma-related psychopathology in families resettled as refugees of Syria, Iraq, the DRC, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. She has led efforts to extend these programs to the virtual space for schoolchildren and to neighborhoods across Detroit for youth and caregivers. Dr. Grasser is also passionate about science policy and advocacy. She has published in the Journal of Science Policy and Governance, is a member of the National Science Policy Network, and is the faculty advisor for the local SciPol Detroit chapter. Most recently, Dr. Grasser received a travel award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and an Emerging Leader Award from the Anxiety and Depression Association of American in recognition of her research and advocacy.
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
Trauma, Posttraumatic Stress Disorders, Child and Adolescents, Refugee Mental Health, Civilian War Trauma and Forced Migration, Anxiety Disorders, Irritability, Dance/Movement Therapy, Art Therapy, Fear-Potentiated Startle, Psychophysiology, Neuroimaging
Research
The goals of her research are twofold: 1) to identify biomarkers of risk and resilience for transdiagnostic psychiatric phenotypes in youth and 2) translate mechanistic discoveries to the development, implementation, and assessment of scalable interventions for youth. To achieve these goals, she leverages psychophysiological and neuroimaging metrics.
Education
- Ph.D. in Translational Neuroscience, Wayne State University, 2022
- BS.c. in Behavioral Neuroscience, Michigan State University, 2017
Awards and grants
External Research Grants
- 2022-2024 Conflict Trauma Technical Assistance for School Districts, Office of Global Michigan, State of Michigan, PI: Javanbakht; Role: Consultant. $516,119
- 2017-2018 Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Syrian Refugee Children Suffering from PTSD, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, PI: Grasser. $3,000
Internal Research Grants
- 2019-2020 Biomarkers of Risk and Resilience to Trauma in Syrian Refugee Youth, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, PI: Grasser. $24,850
Fellowship Research Stipend Awards
- 2019-2022 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health (F31MH120927), PI: Grasser. $128,493
- 2017-2018 Thomas Rumble Fellowship for outstanding students newly recruited to graduate programs at Wayne State University. $20,000
News mentions
- “Spiders, dogs, and PTSD: A virtual treatment for phobias and fear” MedScape Psychiatry. 26 October 2021. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/961532
- “Movement and trauma” Top of Mind with Julie Rose, BYU Radio. 27 September 2021. (Radio interview) https://www.byuradio.org/top-2021-09-27-movement-and-trauma
- “Dance therapy”. Learning More with Russ Catanach, Season 1 Episode 22. 22 September 2021. (Podcast)
- “Growing virtually: Graduate student’s established outreach program for refugees embraces online era” Wayne Health News Media, Wayne State University. 22 April 2021. https://www.waynehealthcares.org/growing-virtually-graduate-students-established-outreach-program-for-refugees-embraces-online-era-from-wayne-state-university-school-of-medicine/
- “We’re seeing smiles: Yoga, art, and movement therapy helping Syrian refugees overcome trauma” MI Blues Perspectives, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. 12 March 2019. https://www.mibluesperspectives.com/stories/community/were-seeing-smiles-yoga-art-and-movement-therapy-helping-syrian-refugees-overcome-trauma
- “Refugees try yoga to help combat PTSD, depression, and anxiety” Stateside, Michigan Radio. 20 April 2018. https://www.michiganradio.org/families-community/2018-04-20/refugees-try-yoga-to-help-combat-ptsd-depression-and-anxiety
- “Suffering in silence: How metro Detroit supports the health of its youngest immigrants and refugees” Second Wave Media. 29 November 2017. https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/features/immigrant-children-trauma-111317.aspx
Selected publications
Grasser, L. R., Yang, R., Brotman, M. A., & Wiggins, J. L. (2024). The contribution of childhood trauma to irritability symptoms. JCPP Advances, e12260.
Grasser, L. R., Saad, B., Bazzi, C., Suhaiban, H. A., Mammo, D. F., Izar, R., ... & Jovanovic, T. (2023). The fear that remains: Associations between trauma, related psychopathology, and fear‐potentiated startle in youth resettled as refugees. Developmental psychobiology, 65(4), e22385.
Grasser, L. R. (2022). Addressing mental health concerns in refugees and displaced populations: is enough being done?. Risk management and healthcare policy, 909-922.
Grasser, L. R., Saad, B., Bazzi, C., Wanna, C., Abu Suhaiban, H., Mammo, D., ... & Javanbakht, A. (2022). Skin conductance response to trauma interview as a candidate biomarker of trauma and related psychopathology in youth resettled as refugees. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13(1), 2083375.
Grasser, L. R., & Jovanovic, T. (2021). Safety learning during development: Implications for development of psychopathology. Behavioural Brain Research, 408, 113297.
Grasser, L. R., Al-Saghir, H., Wanna, C., Spinei, J., & Javanbakht, A. (2019). Moving through the trauma: Dance/movement therapy as a somatic-based intervention for addressing trauma and stress among Syrian refugee children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(11), 1124-1126.
Citation index
h-index: 13; i10-index: 18