Michelle Burns, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine

Michelle Burns, Ph.D., was previously a software engineer and earned her Doctorate (2009) in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Technology-Assisted Mental Health Intervention in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she is currently an Assistant Professor affiliated with the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies and the IMPACT Program.

Dr. Burns’s research thus far has focused on the following issues: 1) clinical trials of computerized, Internet, and mobile phone treatments for anxiety and depression; 2) the relationship of mental health with minority stress and related cognitions; 3) cognitive processes involved in anxiety disorders; and 4) co-occurring psychiatric disorders and outcomes for underserved populations in randomized controlled psychotherapy trials.

She is particularly excited about the potential of mobile mental health interventions to provide real-time outreach and feedback to patients in their unique environments, and overcome barriers to traditional psychotherapy in hidden, underserved communities.