The Kirlic Laboratory
Laboratory for Neuroscience-Informed Resilience in Early Life (The REaL Lab)

Namik Kirlic, Ph.D.

Associate Investigator, Laureate Institute for Brain Research
Email: nkirlic@laureateinstitute.org | Phone: 918-502-5747

Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar Profile


​Research Approach

Abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction during childhood are perhaps the single strongest predictor of childhood-onset mental health disorders. This early onset is further associated with greater severity and chronicity of symptoms, and worse psychosocial and physical health outcomes in adulthood. Treatment of most commonly consequent mental disorders (mood and anxiety) presents an additional public health crisis. The current gold-standard interventions effectively treat about 50% of the affected youth, with a cumulative probability of relapse of 70% after 5 years. Therefore, our lab incorporates neuroscience tools to understand neurobiology of stress susceptibility and develops interventions that will effectively target the behavioral and neurobiological disruptions in at-risk youth to improve long-term outcomes.
Our current research explores the following questions:
 
  1. Can we identify adaptive versus maladaptive patterns of responses to early life adversity, and establish whether these predict resilience or vulnerability, respectively, over time?
  2. By using novel preventative interventions, can we target the neurobiological and psychosocial systems disrupted by early life adversity, thereby improving the short-term and long-term outcomes?
 
His research is currently funded by the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). ​


​Research Program Highlights

​Main Question
What are the neuroscience-informed behavioral interventions that successfully reverse the neurobiological and psychosocial consequences of early life adversity and prevent emerging psychopathology in youth?

Approach
We employ multiple methods of inquiry, including subjective, behavioral, and physiological responses, functional neuroimaging, neurofeedback, and immune and hormone markers to test whether selected interventions target the relevant neurobiological systems. 

​Future Directions
We will aim to establish (1) the long-term effects of such interventions, (2) strategies that will optimize positive outcomes, and (3) which preventative interventions will work best for whom.

Media Appearances

Scientific Background

​Dr. Kirlic was born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Middlebury College in Vermont in 2005, where under mentorship of Dr. Adela Langrock his senior thesis focused on the cumulative effects of perceived war- and post-war stress on current psychological functioning. Following his undergraduate studies, he spent two years in the laboratory of Drs. Hans Breiter and Anne Blood at the Massachusetts General Hospital managing studies on addiction and movement disorder and learning neuroimaging methods and technology.
 
Taking a bit of leap of faith, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2010 to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Tulsa and Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR). Under mentorship of Drs. Elana Newman and Ruben Alvarez, Dr. Kirlic focused on individual differences in neural responses to predictable and unpredictable threats, effects of prenatal drug exposure and postnatal adversity on biological stress responses in children, and effectiveness of interventions for youth survivors of natural disasters and war. His clinical practice in graduate school, as well as during his clinical residency at the University of New Mexico Hospitals and New Mexico VA, centered on the assessment and evidence-based treatment of mood, anxiety, emotion dysregulation disorders.
 
Dr. Kirlic returned to Tulsa for his postdoctoral fellowship at LIBR in 2016. Under mentorship of Dr. Robin Aupperle, he trained in the use of translational behavioral and neuroimaging methods to identify reliable predictors of resilience and treatment responses. Additionally, he had an active role in the delivery of the related evidence-based interventions.
 
In January of 2019, Dr. Kirlic became an Associate Investigator at LIBR. His current research focuses on consequences of early life adversity, emerging psychopathology in youth, neuroscience-informed preventive behavioral interventions, and multi-system responses during aversive conditions. 

Lab Members

Gabriella Cochran
Research Specialist

Selected Publications

Cohen, Z., Cosgrove, K. T., DeVille, D., Akeman, E., Singh, M. K., White, E. J., Steward, J. L., Aupperle, R. L. Paulus, M. P., & Kirlic, N. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on adolescent mental health: Preliminary findings from a longitudinal sample of healthy and at-risk adolescents. Frontiers Pediatrics, 9, 1-8.​
Cohen, Z., Cosgrove, K. T., Akeman, E., Coffey, S., Teague, K., Hays-Grudo, J., Paulus, M., Aupperle, R. L., Kirlic, N. (2021). The effect of mindfulness-based stress intervention on neurobiological and symptom measures in adolescents with early life stress: A randomized feasibility study. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 21(123), 1-14.
Kirlic, N., Colaizzi, J., Cosgrove, K. T., Cohen, Z., Yeh, H., Breslin, F., Morris, A. S., Aupperle, R. L., Singh, M. K., &Paulus, M. P. (2021). Extracurricular activities, screen media activity, and sleep may be modifiable factors related to children’s cognitive functioning: Evidence from the ABCD Study®. Child Development.
​Kirlic, N., Young, J., & Aupperle, R. L. (2017). Animal to human translational paradigms relevant for approach-avoidance conflict decision. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 96, 14-29.
Kirlic, N., Akeman, C. E., Deville, D., Yeh, H. W., Cosgrove, K., McDermott, T. J., Touthang, J., Clausen, A. N.,Paulus, M. P., & Aupperle, R. L. (2021). A machine learning analysis of risk and protective factors of suicidality in college students. Journal of American College Health.
Kirlic, N., Cohen, Z. P., & Singh, M. K. (2020). Is there an ace up our sleeve? A review of interventions and strategies for addressing behavioral and neurobiological effects of adverse childhood experiences for youth. Adversity and Resilience Science: Journal of Research and Practice, 1(1), 5-28.
Kirlic, N., Aupperle, R. L., Rhudy, J. L., Misaki, M., Kuplicki, R., Sutton, A., & Alvarez, R. P. (2019). Latent variable analysis of negative affect and its contributions to neural responses during shock anticipation. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44, 695-702. 
​Aupperle, R. L., Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Criss, M. M., Judah, M., Eagleton, S., Kirlic, N., Byrd-Craven, J., Philips, R., & Alvarez, R. P. (2016). Neural responses to maternal praise and criticism: relationship to depression and anxiety symptoms in high-risk adolescent girls. Neuroimage: Clinical, 4(11), 548-554.
​Kirlic, N., Newman, E., LaGasse, L., Derauf, C., Shah, R., Smith, L. M., Arria, A., Huestis, M. A., Haning, W., Strauss, A., Della Grotta, S., Dansereau, L. M., Abar, B., Neal, C., & Lester, B. M. (2013). Cortisol reactivity in two-year-old children prenatally exposed to methamphetamine. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74(3), 447-451.