Jill Glausier, PhD, Promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry
We are pleased to announce that Jill Glausier, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Glausier earned her PhD in neuroscience from Emory University, then came to the University of Pittsburgh for postdoctoral research training in psychiatry and neuroscience, focusing on the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, as well as deficits in cortical basket cell signaling in schizophrenia. She was appointed assistant professor in 2016.
Dr. Glausier’s research program focuses on identifying the molecular, ultrastructural, cellular, and circuitry alterations that contribute to cortico-striatal circuitry and cognitive dysfunction in individuals with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. A cornerstone of Dr. Glausier’s work is the study of postmortem human brain tissue to provide a definitive characterization of the disease phenomenon essential for the identification and validation of novel, pathophysiologically informed treatment targets. She employs a range of molecular and imaging techniques to study the postmortem human brain, including transcriptome profiling and multiplex in situ hybridization volume, multi-label disk confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy.
Dr. Glausier is currently principal investigator of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded R01 focused on determining the basis of glutamate synaptic dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia by using focused ion-beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), a cutting-edge, novel volume electron microscopy approach. Her prior funding includes a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award, an NIMH K01 career development award, and an NIMH R21 focused on investigating the circuit, molecular, and ultrastructural substrates underlying elevated dopamine in the associative striatum in schizophrenia.
Complementing her own independent research, Dr. Glausier co-directs the NIMH-funded University of Pittsburgh NeuroBioBank (NBB) Brain and Tissue Repository, one of six NIH human post-mortem brain tissue resources nationwide. She was honored by the NIMH for her achievements in this role with the inaugural NeuroBioBank Award of Excellence in 2024.
Dr. Glausier has disseminated her research through peer-reviewed papers in top journals, as well as invitations to present her work at organizations and institutions including the NIMH, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Columbia University, and the Schizophrenia International Research Society. She has also been invited to contribute to think-tank meetings such as the Ernst Strüngmann Institute Forum on Metabolic Neuropsychiatry and James S. McDonnell Foundation Workshops on Brain Health and Energetics. Dr. Glausier has served as a reviewer for the National NeuroHIV Tissue Consortium, the Cellular and Molecular Biology of Complex Brain Disorders Special Emphasis Panel, and Career Development Awards at the NIH, as well as for the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
Dr. Glausier is an outstanding research mentor and has guided undergraduate and graduate students, post-baccalaureate students, and postdoctoral scholars on neuroimaging techniques, research project design and execution, manuscript writing, data analysis, research presentation, and literature review. In addition, she has taught medical and graduate students, and served as an invited expert for psychiatry resident journal clubs and grand rounds.
In terms of service, Dr. Glausier has been generous with her time. Nationally, she has served for six years as chair of the NIH NeuroBioBank Diagnostic Categorization Working Group and is currently chair of the Best Practices Working Group. At the University of Pittsburgh, she has served on multiple Department of Psychiatry initiatives including the Research Review Committee and the Translational Neuroscience Program Seminar Series.
“Dr. Glausier has made major contributions to the study of impaired cortical function in schizophrenia using innovative microscopy techniques, and is a leader in the organizational, operational, and scientific aspects of large-scale postmortem human brain banking. She has published her work in influential journal, and has earned well-deserved national recognition. Dr. Glausier is a superb educator and citizen of the scientific community,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry).
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Glausier!