Zoe Neale, PhD

Dr. Neale’s research examines genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences on alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the impact of alcohol and trauma on brain health across the lifespan. She is also interested in neurogenomic approaches to improving prevention and treatment strategies for AUD and its related health consequences, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Dr. Neale earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was awarded an NIAAA F31 to study associations between genetic risk and alcohol prevention outcomes. Through a T32 postdoctoral fellowship at Boston University and the National Center for PTSD, she gained expertise in statistical genetics and neuropsychiatric aging. Her work has examined genetic and clinical factors influencing alcohol use, PTSD, and cognitive decline using data from the Million Veteran Program and the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Dr. Neale co-leads an NIA-funded administrative supplement studying early-life manifestations of ADRD risk in COGA and collaborates on VA research examining PTSD and mental health outcomes in veterans. She is a recipient of an NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP) award from NIAAA and was selected for the NIH-funded TRANSPORT Junior Faculty Training Program at SUNY Downstate. Her research aims to bridge neuroscience, genetics, and clinical science to advance understanding and treatment of AUD, PTSD, and related health outcomes.

• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (Traumatic Stress), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston, Boston, MA
• Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology), Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• Clinical Internship, VA Boston Healthcare System, Jamaica Plain, MA
• M.S. (Clinical Psychology), Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
• B.A. (American Studies), University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Selected publications:

• Barr, P. B., Neale, Z., Schulman, J., Mullins, N., Zhang, J., Chorlian, D. B., ... & Meyers, J. L. (2024). Clinical, genomic, and neurophysiological correlates of lifetime suicide attempts among individuals with an alcohol use disorder. Complex Psychiatry (accepted, pre-publication)
• Neale, Z.E., Bountress, K., Sheerin, C., Saenz deViteri, S., Cusack, S., Chorlian, D., Barr, P.B., Kaplan, I., Pandey, G., Osipenko, K., McCutcheon, V., Kuo, S.I., Cooke, M.E., Brislin, S.J., Salvatore, J.E., Kamarajan, C., COGA Investigators, Porjesz, B., Amstadter, A., Meyers, J. (2024). Childhood trauma is associated with developmental trajectories of EEG coherence, alcohol-related outcomes, and PTSD symptoms. Psychological Medicine, 54(15), 4302–4315. doi:10.1017/S0033291724002599
• Neale, Z.E., Fonda, J.R., Miller, M.W., Wolf, E.J., Zhang, R., Sherva, R., Harrington, K.M., Merritt, V., Panizzon, M.S., Hauger, R.L., Gaziano, J.M., the VA Million Veteran Program, and Logue, M.W. (2024). Subjective cognitive concerns, APOE ε4, PTSD symptoms, and risk for dementia among older Veterans. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 16(1), 143. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-024-01512-w
• Neale, Z.E., Kuo, S., & Dick, D.M. (2020). A systematic review of gene-by-intervention studies on alcohol and other substance use. Development and Psychopathology, 1-18.

 

Full publications list available here: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/zoe.neale.1/bibliography/public/

Active:

• 3R01AA030010-02S1, Jacquelyn L. Meyers (PI), 2024-2025, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias focused administrative supplement to Genetic Relationships between PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder: Integrating GWAS and Deeply Phenotyped Longitudinal Data, National Institute on Aging (Role: Co-Investigator and Project Lead)

Past:

• F31AA027130, Zoe E. Neale (PI), 2018-2020, The moderating effect of genetic predispositions on alcohol intervention outcomes in youth, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism