Dr. Adrienne C. Lahti serves as the Heman E. Drummond Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology and is the Director of the Residency Research Track. She also co-directs the Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium. Her research focuses on schizophrenia and psychosis spectrum disorders, utilizing multimodal brain imaging techniques. Throughout her career, she has authored over 145 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters. Dr. Lahti has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry and the McNulty Civitan Scientist Award.

Dr. Matthew Macaluso is the Bee McWane Reid Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology. He also serves as the Clinical Director of the UAB Depression and Suicide Center. His research centers on clinical psychopharmacology, particularly in developing novel treatments for treatment-resistant major depression.

Dr. Karen L. Gamble is a professor and Vice Chair for Basic Science Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology. She serves as the Co-Director of the Neuroscience theme in the Graduate Biomedical Sciences Program. Dr. Gamble's research focuses on chronobiology, particularly the environmental modulation of circadian clock function in mammalian systems. Her work has significant implications for understanding psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and ADHD, as well as the effects of shift work and physiologic substance dependence.

Dr. Karen Cropsey is a professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology. She is a leading expert on the opioid epidemic, focusing on substance abuse treatment in vulnerable populations, including individuals involved in the criminal justice system and those living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to her research, she is involved in teaching and mentoring within the department. Dr. Cropsey's expertise has been recognized nationally, as she serves on the Committee on the Review of Specific Programs in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, providing recommendations to Congress on effective responses to the opioid crisis.

Dr. Scott Pruett is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology and former resident member of the NIMH R25 funded resident research track at the Warrant Alpert Medical School of Brown University. His research focuses on molecular disruptions in schizophrenia, investigating intracellular pH regulation and its impact on protein modification and trafficking. He serves as the mentor-in-training representative on the executive committee. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Chair's Choice Travel Fellowship Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry in 2018.

Dr. Reid Black is a PGY4 and serves as the inaugural UAB Chief Research Track Resident. He completed medical school at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Dr. Black’s research has focused on the methamphetamine-sensitive circadian oscillator and circadian dysfunction in delirium. He was recently recognized as a 2025 Sleep and Circadian Science Scholar by the Sleep Research Society. Dr. Black will complete a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2025-2026.

Dr. George Ling is currently a PGY3 and chief resident, responsible for leading development of the research track from the residents’ perspective. He holds an MD from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and an MS in Medical Sciences from Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Ling’s interests focus on functional neuroimaging applications in schizophrenia and cognition.