The Elise Herzog Mental Health Research Fund was established in 2023 with generous gifts from the Herzog family and supporters. It remembers Elise Herzog, who lived a vibrant life despite a decades-long struggle with bipolar disorder. Elise wanted to for herself to better understand her illness, and for others to develop the intellectual and social resources to overcome challenges to mental health. 

This year was the second in which the fund made grants to support student research that “will help us identify, treat, and support those living with chronic mental health challenges.” We made three awards—two to PhD students and one to an undergraduate honors student. Tu Do, a PhD student working with Josh Oltmanns, received funding for a project that uses AI language models to assess PTSD symptoms. Hailey Modi, a PhD student working with Ryan Bogdan, is working to identify what makes a person more or less vulnerable to social determinants of psychopathology. Vivian Adler is an undergraduate honors student working under the supervision of Brian Carpenter on techniques for using writing to enhance wellbeing.