Post-Doctoral Research Fellow [Full CV] [Web: Science] [Web: Writing]
Advisor: Joseph F. McGuire, Ph.D. 
Division: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Department: Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Institution: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Education

• B.A., Psychology (Emphasis: Psychophysiology), Graduated Cum Laude
  San Francisco State University (SFSU), San Francisco, CA
• M.A., Psychology (Major: Behavioral Neuroscience; Minor: Quantitative Psychology)
  University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA
• C.Phil., Psychology (Major: Cognitive Neuroscience; Minor: Quantitative Psychology)
  University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA
• Ph.D., Psychology (Major: Cognitive Neuroscience; Minor: Quantitative Psychology)
  University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA

Research Interests

My research background is in cognitive neuroscience, with a speciality in learning and memory enhancement.  My research focuses on applying learning and memory enhancement strategies to optimise evidence-based treatments for childhood neuropsychiatric conditions. I am also interested to apply cognitive neuroscience techniques to evaluate treatment outcomes. Toward this end, my research uses novel technologies such as immersive virtual reality (VR), mobile applications (apps), and functional neuroimaging (fMRI) to examine strategies to enhance therapeutic learning in evidence-based behavioural therapies.

Personal Interests

Besides my work, I enjoy theological studies, writing novels, good company, and good food. I am fluent in English and Chinese (dialects: Mandarin and Cantonese), speak enough Japanese to ask for food (often resulting in pleasant surprises), and dabble in biblical Greek and Hebrew.

Awards

• Tourette’s Association of America Young Investigator Award (2019-2022)
• Tourette’s Association of America Young Investigator Travel Award (2020, 2022)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
• UCLA Doctoral Student Travel Grant
• DARPA Young Faculty Award, PI: Dr. Jesse Rissman, Role: Graduate Researcher
• UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship (GSM) Award
• UCLA Graduate Summer Research Mentorship (GSRM) Award (2)
• UCLA Distinguished University Fellowship
• Distinction in Human Biology, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE).
• Mustard Seed Foundation, Harvey Fellows (Finalist)
• National Academy Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (Alternate List Honorable Mention)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (Honourable Mention)

Leadership Positions and Society Memberships

• Psychology in Action, UCLA
  • Roles: Advisor, 3 yrs on-going; President, 2 yrs; Web Division Leader, 1 yr.
• Association for Psychological Science, Student Member.
• Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Student Member.
• Extreme Science & Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), Student Member.
• SFSU Psychology Department Honor Thesis Program.
• Golden Key International Honor Society.
• Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology.
• SFSU College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Dean’s List (8).

Publications

^º indicates mentees, * indicates individuals from underrepresented, disadvantaged, non-traditional, or ethnic minority backgrounds, ^† indicate individuals identify as women.

1. ^†Patrick, AK, ^†Ramsey, KA, ^†Essoe, JK-Y, McGuire, J.F. (Accepted). Clinical Considerations for an Evidence-Based Assessment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Psychiatry Clinics.
2. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, *Reggente, N, ^{º †}Ohno, AA,^{º †}*Baek, HY, Dell’Italia, J, Rissman, J. (2022). Enhancing learning and retention with distinctive virtual reality environments and mental context reinstatement. Npj Science of Learning, 7(1), Article 1. [link]
3. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, ^†Patrick, AK, ^{º †}Reynolds, K, ^{º †}Schmidt, A, ^†Ramsey, KA, McGuire, JF, (2022). Recent Advances in Psychotherapy with Virtual Reality: Closing the Research-to-Practice Gap. Advances in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health 2:79-93. [link]
4. *Reggente, N, ^†Essoe, JK-Y, Aghajan, ZM, Tavakoli, AV, McGuire, JF, ^†Suthana, NA, Rissman, J. (2018) Enhancing the ecological validity of fMRI memory research using virtual reality. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2018;12, 408. [link]
5. Tang, Y, Béjar, B., ^†Essoe, JK-Y, McGuire, JF, & *Vidal, R. (2022). Facial Tic Detection in Untrimmed Videos of Tourette Syndrome Patients. 2022 26th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), 3152–3159. [link]
6. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, ^{† *}Ricketts, EJ, ^† Ramsey, KA, Piacentini, J, Woods, DW, Peterson, AL, Scahill, L, ^† Wilhelm, S, Walkup, JT, & McGuire, JF, (2021). ­­­Homework Adherence Predicts Therapeutic Improvement from Behavior Therapy in Tourette’s Disorder. Behavioural Research and Therapy, 140, 103844. [link]
7. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, ^†Ramsey, KA, Singer, HS, Grados, M, & McGuire, JF, (2021). Mechanisms Underlying Behavior Therapy for Tourette’s Disorder. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 1-14. [link]
8. McGuire JF, Piacentini J, Storch EA, ^†*Ricketts EJ, Woods DW, Peterson AL, Walkup JT, ^† Wilhelm S, ^†Ramsey K, ^†Essoe JK, Himle MB, (2020). Defining Tic Severity and Tic Impairment in Tourette Disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 2020 Dec 13. [link]
9. ^†Ramsey KA, ^†Essoe JK, Storch EA, Lewin AB, ^†Murphy TK, McGuire JF, (2020). Urge Intolerance and Impairment Among Youth with Tourette’s and Chronic Tic Disorders. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. 2020 Oct 23:1-1. [link]
10. ^†Ramsey, KA, ^†Essoe JK, Storch EA, Lewin AB, ^†Murphy TK, McGuire JF, (2020). The role of affect lability on tic severity and impairment in youth with Tourette’s disorder. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. 2020 Oct 1;27:100578. [link]
11. McGuire JF, Ginder N, ^†Ramsey K, ^†Essoe JK, ^{† *}Ricketts EJ, McCracken JT, Piacentini J, (2020). Optimizing behavior therapy for youth with Tourette’s disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020 Nov;45(12):2114-9. [link]
12. ^†Canella, R, ^†Essoe, JK-Y, Grados, M, & McGuire, JF, (2020). Overcoming challenges in exposure therapy. In Exposure Therapy for Children with Anxiety and OCD (pp. 383-404). Academic Press. [link]
13. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, Grados, MA, Myers, NS, Singer, HS, McGuire, JF, (2019). Evidence-based Treatment of Tourette’s Disorder and Chronic Tic Disorders. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 2019; 1-13. [link]
14. ^*Reggente, N, ^†Essoe, JK-Y, ^{º † *}Baek, HY, & Rissman, J, (2019). The Method of Loci in Virtual Reality: Explicit Binding of Objects to Spatial Contexts Enhances Subsequent Memory Recall. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 2019; 1-19. [link]
15. ^†Essoe, JK-Y, Rissman, J, (2018). Functional Neuroimaging Methods in Memory Research. In H. Otani & B. Schwartz (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods in Human Memory 2018:397-427. New York, NY: Routledge. [link]
16. McGuire, JF, Orr, SP, ^†Essoe, JK-Y, McCracken, JT, Storch, EA, Piacentini, J, (2016). Extinction Learning in Childhood Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Treatment. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 2016;16(10), 1155-1174. [link]