Dr. Sarah Sperry
Richard Tam Early Career Professor in Translational Bipolar Research @UMich | Bipolar disorder | Emotion | Impulsivity | EtOH | Sleep | Digital Phenotyping |
EmoTe Lab: sperry.lab.medicine.umich.edu
- 😊 thanks @friesgabriel.bsky.social. So honored to be a new Associate Member with @acnporg.bsky.social !!!!!
- Congrats to all new #ACNP Associate Members, and special shoutout to my friend/Science hero @drsarahsperry.bsky.social 🥳🥳
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah Sperry🚨New pub alert - first one of 2026! Learn more about how we modified a 988 Crisis Line Facilitation intervention for adults with Bipolar Disorder in a CMH setting Led by Drs. Lindsay Bornheimer, Adrienne Lapidos, Mark Ilgen, and @drsarahsperry.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Grateful to be in the Bahamas for #ACNP2026!!! Came a few days early to enjoy but am excited for the science to start on Monday!
- 🚨My trainee Victoria Murphy, data architect Gabriel Mongefranco, and I are pleased to share 🌟EMA-CleanR: R code to pre-process, clean, and visualize ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data! Documentation: teamdynamix.umich.edu/TDClient/210... Code: github.com/DepressionCe...
- Citation: Sperry, S., Murphy, V., & Mongefranco, G. (2025). DepressionCenter/EMA-CleanR: v1.0.1 (v1.0.1). Eisenberg Family Depression Center. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
- ✨✨2025 was a great year for the EmoTe Lab - my trainees continued to inspire me and our work together continued to push the bipolar disorder field forward 🧠👩🏼🔬 ✨✨2025 was also a great year for me personally - my biggest project yet began🤰🏼! We have a baby boy joining the lab in spring 2026 👶🏼
- Honored to be named a 2025 Leading Research Achievement by the @bbrfoundation.bsky.social for the work that came from my Young Investigator Award! bbrfoundation.org/blog/2025-le...
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryUNCG will be hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in child clinical psychology! We are late in the cycle, so please help us circulate to any interested parties: spartantalent.uncg.edu/postings/33557
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah Sperry🆕 DPN article from @drsarahsperry.bsky.social & colleagues demonstrates that daily physical activity may improve mood in people with bipolar disorder ⬇️
- Proud of my PhD trainee Audrey Stromberg on this work! Check out her new paper, “integrating active and passive digital phenotyping to study temporal dynamics between physical activity and mood in bipolar disorders” in @dpn-journal.bsky.social
- Proud of my PhD trainee Audrey Stromberg on this work! Check out her new paper, “integrating active and passive digital phenotyping to study temporal dynamics between physical activity and mood in bipolar disorders” in @dpn-journal.bsky.social
- Love my lab! A great dinner at SRP!
- Don't miss the EmoTe Lab/Prechter Program presentations at #SRP2025 this year!
- Check out the final paper from my @bbrfoundation.bsky.social Young Investigator Award, now published in Nature Mental Health! rdcu.be/eHxQr
- Heading home after 10 days in Japan full of travel and conference fun! Thrilled my symposium went well - thank you to Maria Faurholt-Jensen, Kathleen Merikangas, and Benito Frey for standing beside me and talking all things mood instability in bipolar disorder!
- Off to Japan for ISBD!!!!
- Join the Prechter Program and the U-M Addiction Center for our webinar, "Mind Matters: The Intersections of Substance Use, Suicidality & Bipolar Disorder," on 10/7 from 6:30-8:30 PM ET. I’ll be speaking along with Dr. Mark Ilgen. Register here: michmed.org/dYkRq
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryI will be reviewing applications for the University of Michigan Clinical Psychology doctoral program this fall. If you are interested in applying, here’s some info I prepared for applicants: sites.lsa.umich.edu/aidangcw-lab...
- It was so wonderful working with Fleur during her Fulbright Scholarship here at UofM! So excited to see this work available!
- Check out our new Seminar on bipolar disorder in @thelancet.com! Was wonderful to work with these co-authors, led by Balwinder Singh. authors.elsevier.com/a/1lTurV-4XS...
- It was so fun to collaborate with Alyson Dodd (UK) and Tamsyn Van Rheenen (AUS)! We created a short, more psychometrically valid, measure of appraisals of internal states based on the Integrated Cognitive Model of Bipolar Disorder: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryAddiction destroys lives. And the current administration is dedicated to destroying the careers of scientists who seek to alleviate the pain and suffering of Americans with addiction. I cannot think of a more certain way to do this than by defunding training grants for early career scientists.
- Today our @unm.edu @casaa.bsky.social T32 training grant is no longer funded. We are waiting for our renewal that is pending. I spent most of yesterday crying with worry about how I will support our amazing trainees. Today I celebrate them and the joy of seeing them present at CPDD and RSA. 🧵
- Yesterday was @julialsmith.bsky.social’s last day in the lab 😭 In addition to being a wonderful human and trainee, she single handedly ran my K23 and finished 4 years of recruitment in 2. It’s so bittersweet. She is off to IUI to do her PhD in Clinical Psych with Melissa Cyders and I’m so proud!
- Check out our new paper on the relationship between the Late Positive Potential (LPP) and negative urgency! Led by my collaborator (& internship buddy) Brian Albanese's PhD student David Johnson! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- We are excited to welcome Gjulia Camaj to the EmoTe Lab! Gjulia graduated from the UM with High Honors Distinction in Psychology & completing her thesis in Dr. Luke Hydes MIND lab. Gjulia will be the new study coordinator for EBI-BD (K23)! sperry.lab.medicine.umich.edu/news-media/n...
- When your preliminary results support Aim 1 of your K23 😅
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryVery proud of Janan’s work on this project! Beyond the concept of urgency, I believe it has important implications for how we think about “reactivity” indices in EMA. Should we rely so much on within-person covariance? Should we look more to cooccurrence of more well defined states? Time will tell.
- After a morning of writing various letters of recommendation for medical school and social work programs I am hopeful. These young scholars are amazing. How lucky we are to get to be a part of their story. We've got to keep them engaged and supported so they can thrive during these times...
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryCo-occurring and covarying are different things. Nice to see others taking up this position. Super cool proof-of-concept with emotional impulsivity from @jananmost.bsky.social, @drsarahsperry.bsky.social, @kevinmking.bsky.social, and @aidangcw.bsky.social. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40323898/
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryUncovering urgency in daily life: Testing a novel method for assessing emotion–impulsivity co-occurrence in momentary data. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-... @drsarahsperry.bsky.social @aidangcw.bsky.social
- Congratulations to my undergraduate RAs Natalie Neubecker, Malina Maxham, and Alana Colvin, for presenting their posters at the UROP Research Symposium and to @julialsmith.bsky.social for being such an amazing mentor to them! Excited that all are staying in the lab!
- ‼️ Check out our "Michigan Medicine Presents..." podcast exploring the meaning of wellness for those with bipolar disorder...Check it out here or on Apple podcasts, spotify, or acast: www.michiganmedicine.org/michigan-med...
- Thanks for the highlight of my postdoc Hanjoo Kim’s work!!! Glad it’s getting downloads and hopefully that = reads!
- Coming in at #5 is: "Longitudinal dynamics between anxiety and depression in bipolar spectrum disorders." By Hanjoo Kim, Melvin McInnis, and @drsarahsperry.bsky.social Congrats to the authors! psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-... 3/
- Check out this new review on mechanisms, assessment, and treatment of co-occurring bipolar disorder and substance use I did with the lovely Beth Lippard for the APA's FOCUS Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
- Honored to be nominated as a NAMI Michigan clinical professional of the year. Thank you to my nominator @ahvinson.bsky.social and to the Bipolar Disorder Learning Community for attending with me! ☺️
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryCongratulations to BD² grantees Hilary Blumberg, MD and @drsarahsperry.bsky.social, who received DBSA Gerald L. Klerman Awards, the organization’s highest honor for scientific contributions to depression and bipolar disorder. We’re proud to have them in our network. 🔗Read more: tinyurl.com/229bhawe
- Honored to receive the 2025 DBSA Gerald L. Klerman Young Investigator Award ☺️ These awards acknowledge how important research is for improving the lives of people with bipolar disorder and depression - a critical message! www.dbsalliance.org/about/gerald...
- So grateful for this incredible advocate. Lillie is a member of my lab and a fierce advocate for reducing stigma surrounding both bipolar disorder and substance use disorders. Today she was honored with the George Orley Student Advocate Award at the Mental Health on College Campuses Conference. 🥹
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah Sperry🌍 It’s #WorldBipolarDay 🌍 #Bipolardisorder affects millions and often takes years to diagnose. Today, we come together to raise awareness, eliminate stigma, and support those living with bipolar disorder. #BipolarStrong💈💈
- One night left in the elite eight! Vote now for Eisenberg Family Depression Center to support my research. So close!!!!! www.statnews.com/feature/stat...
- The two U-M teams still standing in #STATMadness got there because of their innovative work on #bipolar disorder and #autism's potential link to congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Read more about them here: www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release... @drsarahsperry.bsky.social leads one of them!
- We made it to the elite eight! Please consider signing in to cast a vote for my paper, listed under the UM Eisenberg Family Depression Center!
- The two U-M teams still standing in #STATMadness got there because of their innovative work on #bipolar disorder and #autism's potential link to congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Read more about them here: www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release... @drsarahsperry.bsky.social leads one of them!
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryThe University of Michigan has great sports teams. But it's even more world-renowned for its medical research. My colleagues and I got legendary Coach John Beilein to help us spread the word about the chance to vote for U-M teams in #STATMadness. Vote here: www.statnews.com/feature/stat...
- What a devastating loss. Sam was one of my favorite profs at Tufts. He had the most creative way of communicating psychology principles and research methods. He also made his students laugh…hard 💔 Sending Jumbo and Wolverine love to his family and Tufts community now.tufts.edu/2025/03/20/r...
- Had the privilege of talking about sleep and circadian rhythms in bipolar disorder alongside other amazing basic and clinical scientists yesterday. Especially proud to be sitting next to @ucbcalmprogram.bsky.social dr.Sheri Johnson who has been such an inspiration to me!
- My first mentor ❤️ turned collaborator. Grateful to be a part of @bipolardiscoveries.org with her!
- Excited for World Bipolar Day! We are doing our annual Ask Me Anything event on Reddit - begins March 19th. You can read more about it here! talkbd.live/world-bipola...
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah Sperry💈💈 We're working towards a future where precision medicine can improve treatment and care for those with #bipolardisorder. Our article in Biological Psychiatry outlines this vision and the role of philanthropy in filling the gaps. Read it here: tinyurl.com/bdfvb4e8
- So proud of and excited for @julialsmith.bsky.social Keep an eye on this one folks, she is a ⭐️! It’s bittersweet- I don’t know what I’ll do without her! She is my first study coordinator and made my K23 easy. What NIH study do you know that’s a year ahead of recruitment goals?! A ⭐️…
- Honored to be nominated as a NAMI clinical professional in Michigan this year 🥲… improving evidenced based care for bipolar disorder one step at a time!
- Join the ISBD EMCC as we launch the Community of Practice on Tuesday, March 25th. This online event is for early & mid-career people working in the field of #bipolardisorder. Don't miss your chance to connect with others in the field! Register here: forms.gle/cobckZRdVK14...
- Things are getting exciting! Our paper on "Mood instability metrics to stratify individuals and measure outcomes in bipolar disorder" has made it to the second round of #STATMadness. Vote daily! ☑️ www.statnews.com/feature/stat...
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryDon't forget to apply for the Society for Ambulatory Assessment Early Career Award 2025! Applications close today. The winner will receive 500 € and give a keynote at @saa2025leuven.bsky.social #SAA2025. More info ⬇️
- Applications are now open for the Society for Ambulatory Assessment Early Career Award 2025! We welcome applications from members who obtained their doctorate in the last 3 years. The winner will receive 500€ and give a keynote at @saa2025leuven.bsky.social. Apply by 7 March by submitting your work.
- WFH colleagues help me stay grounded when the world is on fire
- Reposted by Dr. Sarah SperryOK, Michigan fans, here's your way to show support for U-M medical research! Vote today in the #STATMadness tournament for the 8 U-M teams selected for this fun competition: michmed.org/Stat25 @loshman.bsky.social @joyclee.bsky.social @drsarahsperry.bsky.social @ummni.bsky.social
- Our paper on mood instability in bipolar disorder was selected for the STAT Madness Tournament for Science. You can vote once per day to help us get to the next round! For our paper, vote for UM Eisenberg Family Depression Center! @DepressionCntr www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release...
- Any one else see that NIHreporter and ERAcommons are down?
- Spending the next two days at Ohio State analyzing my K23 EEG data with the one and only Ivy Tso! 🧠
- So frustrating - My postdocs K23 panel was cancelled yesterday. A delay like this has significant implications for him. It is unfair to the reviewers who have spent 20 hours (on top of work) prepping for the panel...I am about to spend my weekend doing reviews for a panel that may not happen 🤯.
- New York Times article now up on Federal Register stuff. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s... 1/n
- Thrilled to share that the Regents have approved my early career professorship! I am now the Richard Tam Early Career Professor of Translational Bipolar Research at the University of Michigan☺️
