Amanda Mccleery

Amanda Mccleery is an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Her research focuses on schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, and cognitive functioning in mental illness, with particular emphasis on social cognition, visual processing, and the impact of external stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations including veterans and individuals experiencing homelessness.

Dr. Mccleery's research interests span several critical areas in psychiatric neuroscience:

• Schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, particularly cognitive and social cognitive impairments
• Neuroplasticity and visual processing in schizophrenia
• Social isolation and loneliness in severe mental illness
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterans with psychosis or recent homelessness
• Defeatist performance beliefs and their relationship to cognitive functioning
• Early intervention strategies for individuals at risk for psychosis

Her publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on understanding the cognitive and social aspects of schizophrenia across her career, with increasing attention to the impact of external stressors like the pandemic. Recent work has expanded to include machine learning approaches to understand social isolation patterns, investigations of racial disparities, financial health among vulnerable veteran populations, and the role of psychological strengths in mental health trajectories. Much of her work involves longitudinal studies examining how mental health and functional outcomes evolve over time in response to external challenges.

Dr. Mccleery has received significant research funding, including an NIH K23 career development award (K23MH108829) titled "Cortical Plasticity Across Phase of Illness in Schizophrenia" (2016-2021), where she served as Principal Investigator. This award supported her research examining neural mechanisms of cognitive functioning across different stages of schizophrenia.

She collaborates extensively with leading researchers in the field, including Michael Green, Keith Nuechterlein, Eric Reavis, Derek Novacek, and Kenneth Subotnik at UCLA. Her work frequently appears in high-impact journals across psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience, with notable publications in Schizophrenia, Psychological Medicine, Journal of Psychiatric Research, and Frontiers in Psychiatry.