BALLER LAB
Meet The Team
Principal Investigator
Erica Baller, MD, MS
Dr. Erica Baller is a dedicated physician-scientist committed to uncovering the mechanisms that underlie mood and cognition in patients with comorbid psychiatric and medical illnesses. She completed her general psychiatry residency training at teh University of Pennsylvania, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and T32 Neuropsychiatry Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Baller serves as an Attending Psychiatrist on the Consultation-Liaison psychiatry service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in addition to directing the Baller Laboratory.
Elena, Dr. Baller’s clinical research coordinator, is responsible for participant recruitment, data collection, and data management. Elena graduated with a BA in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience and a minor in Law, Justice, and Social Change from the University of Michigan. There, she researched the neural circuitry that underlies maladaptive behaviors, focusing specifically on the neurochemical profile of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus. Elena is interested in elucidating how structural and biological alterations in the brain confer risk for cognitive dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms. Elena plans on attending medical school with a research track.
Clinical Research Coordinator
Elena Cooper, BA
Millie Sach, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Millie is a Clinical Research Coordinator in Dr. Baller’s Lab. She earned her BA from Dartmouth College with majors in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Chinese Language. While at Dartmouth, Millie completed an honors thesis investigating the individual differences that drive social behavior during complex group interactions. Her research interests sit at the intersection of affective and social neuroscience, with a keen interest in how individual differences in social behavior shape well being. With a background spanning various clinical therapeutic settings, Millie intends to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology to bridge her research interests with clinical practice.
Dr. Noelle Ohanesian is a current neurology resident at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a BS in Neuroscience from Duke University, after which she worked as a clinical research coordinator at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center working on clinical trials for dementia. She then earned her MD with Distinction in Bioethics from Albany Medical College before coming to Penn for residency. During residency, Dr. Ohanesian has developed a particular interest in multiple sclerosis and the cognitive challenges that these patients face. She hopes to better serve her patients by contributing to research in this area. She is planning to pursue a neuroimmunology fellowship after residency.
Neurology Resident
Noelle Ohanesian, MD
