Alessandra Passarotti

Alessandra Passarotti, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She leads the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) at UIC. Her research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of cognitive and affective dysfunction in pediatric mental illnesses, utilizing cognitive neuroscience approaches and fMRI methods. She studies healthy and clinical populations, including children with Bipolar Disorder and ADHD, examining impulsivity, cognitive control, reward processes, and their relationships to affect processing, executive functions, learning, and substance abuse in adolescents.

Dr. Passarotti’s current projects explore the potential of cognitive remediation to address attention and working memory deficits in Bipolar Disorder and ADHD. Her work bridges developmental psychology, neuroscience, and clinical practice to better understand mental health challenges in youth. She is affiliated with the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Juvenile Research, emphasizing translational research with direct clinical applications.