WELCOME
Hi! My name is Liisa Hantsoo, and I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the Johns Hopkins Reproductive Mental Health Center, my research and clinical work focuses on the role of stress in women's mental health across the lifespan, with a special focus on premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
On this website, you will find brief descriptions of my research projects, publications, conference presentations, and a blog focused on stress and women's health. Welcome!
About
ABOUT ME
As a Clinical Psychologist, I combine clinical practice and research. I am especially interested in stress response in women, across the menstrual cycle and perinatally. The goal of my work is to better understand how interactions between the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axes may contribute to risk for mood or anxiety disorders in women, such as postpartum depression or PMDD. To research this, I use techniques including acoustic startle, acute laboratory stressors, and biomarkers such as blood levels of inflammatory markers, HPA hormones, and neuroactive steroids.
TRAINING
I completed my Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry under the mentorship of C. Neill Epperson, M.D., an expert in neuroactive steroids and sex differences. Prior to Penn, I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology in the Ohio State University’s Department of Psychology. My research focused on stress and immune function, in the laboratory of Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D. at OSU’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research. Here, I was particularly interested in how early life stress primes development of the stress response. At the beginning, my journey as a researcher started with zebrafish. While earning my Bachelor’s in Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University, I was fortunate to work in the laboratory of Marnie Halpern, Ph.D., who studied neural development in a zebrafish model. My work focused on the habenular nuclei, which are involved in anxiety and fear response, and was what first got me hooked on research.
LINKS & CONTACT INFO
Johns Hopkins Reproductive Mental Health Center Research Division: Learn more or participate in research!
To donate to our Center, click here.
If you are a journalist seeking my comments for an article, contact the Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations office.
Twitter: @LiisVH
My full CV is available upon request.
Tallinn, Estonia. Photo by Ilya Orehov on Unsplash
RANDOM BITS…
WHAT’S WITH ALL THOSE VOWELS IN YOUR NAME?
I’m Estonian! Well, half Estonian. My father was from a small Estonian city on the Baltic Sea. The Estonian language is very vowelly and can be difficult to pronounce (my last name sounds a bit like Han Solo). While I was born and raised in the U.S., I still have relatives in Estonia, and visit when I can.
WHEN I'M NOT IN THE LAB...
I love traveling, seeing art, and hanging out with my Sheltie and my husband. I love writing about science, which gets published from time to time. I was Editor in Chief of UPenn's Biomedical Postdoctoral Council quarterly newsmagazine, and many years ago was a section editor for the Johns Hopkins campus newspaper, the Newsletter. Some people say I bake a mean vegan cookie.