Annelise Madison

Topic: “Social Stress Responses and Inflammation-Associated Depression”

Short-lived inflammatory responses are integral to healing, but long-lasting and systemic inflammation is a risk factor for chronic disease, accelerated aging, and depression. Even routine stressors and hassles provoke inflammatory responses, yet individuals differ in the magnitude and duration of their responses, how psychologically sensitive they are to inflammation, and how often this stress response is triggered. Exaggerated inflammatory responses in combination with frequent stress exposure may fuel chronic inflammation—one signal of immune dysregulation. My research program utilizes the lens of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) to investigate psychosocial factors that increase risk for immune dysregulation, and conversely how immune dysregulation shapes mental and physical health trajectories. Here I will show inflammation’s mood and behavioral correlates in humans. I will discuss one PNI-relevant pathway from social stress to inflammation to depressive symptom worsening, as well as a potential intervention strategy. Lastly, I will incorporate my research into the gut, its barrier, and its bacterial inhabitants as important influences on immune function and ultimately depression risk. Overall, I will show how frequent psychosocial stress, as well as concomitant problematic health behaviors, can dysregulate resting physiology to create an environment conducive for the development of depression and comorbid physical disease. The goal of my research program is to identify and test targeted PNI-informed psychosocial interventions to prevent stress-related diseases and disorders and promote better responses to immunomodulating treatments.

Annelise Madison is a PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology (Health Track) at The Ohio State University. During the 2023 - 2024 academic year, she is a Clinical Psychology Intern at VA Boston Healthcare System. During her graduate career, she studied psychoneuroimmunology under the mentorship of Dr. Jan Kiecolt-Glaser at the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research. She is interested in the physiological correlates of stress and depression, including inflammation, vaccine responses, acute stress reactivity, and the gut-brain axis. Most recently, she has focused on the social stress model, which identifies psychosocial factors that modulate a conflict’s physiological impact, and how certain physiological response patterns can set the stage for increased depression risk. Ultimately, she aims to address the high prevalence of psychiatric and medical comorbidity by helping to identify and intervene on underlying transdiagnostic risk factors, such as stress-related immune dysregulation.