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Lisa Eyler, PhD
Center Director
Lisa T. Eyler is a professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and directs the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education in the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. She is also a Clinical Research Psychologist in the Desert-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at VA San Diego Healthcare System. A clinical psychologist by training, one facet of Dr. Eyler’s research focuses on cognitive, emotional, and brain aging and development across a range of populations, including community-dwelling older adults and people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She has expertise in the use of cognitive assessment, structural and functional neuroimaging, blood-based biomarkers of inflammation, and mobile ecological momentary assessment for both observational and interventional studies. She has been principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous federally-funded grants, and has published over 200 scientific papers and chapters and is a member of several international research consortia. Dr. Eyler also coordinates the research efforts within the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training which include Center-led initiatives and Center-sponsored Medical Education Seed Grants. Center-led initiatives comprise studies of the impact of Institute-funded educational programs, such as Compassionatomy and the Sanford Scholars program; a longitudinal cohort study of empathy, compassion, and burnout among medical students; and, scholarship on how basic research on empathy and compassion can be used to improve applied training for health sciences students.
Dr. Eyler completed her doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania and came to UC San Diego as a clinical psychology intern in 1996. She became faculty at VA San Diego Healthcare in 1999 and at UC San Diego in 2000. She is active in teaching, including as co-director of a core course at the UC San Diego School of Medicine for first- and second-year medical students – Compassionate Action and Real Engagement in the Community (CARE). She is a faculty mentor in numerous research training programs for undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Eyler is active in leading equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts in Health Sciences, is the convener of the EDI Ambassadors group, and serves on the Women in Health Sciences Planning Committee. She received the 2019 UCSD Campus-wide Faculty Inclusive Excellence Award and was the 2023 UCSD Honoree at the YWCA Tribute to Women in Leadership Awards.
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Federica Klaus
Assistant Project Scientist - Director of Research
Federica Klaus received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Zurich in Switzerland and conducted her residency in psychiatry at the Psychiatric University Hospital of Zurich. She conducted a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation) and Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research at UC San Diego, investigating the relationship between inflammation, brain aging, and symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Her research interests include a transdiagnostic approach to biological mechanisms of serious mental illness, and how positive psychological traits, such as empathy and compassion, can increase well-being on an individual and societal level for people with and without mental disorders, reaching beyond structural barriers.
As director of research in the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education, she is in charge of collecting and analyzing data to better understand how empathy and compassion can be incorporated in medical education to increase wellbeing of clinical learners, practitioners and outcomes of patients.
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Ashley Sutherland
Staff Research Associate - Sanford Scholars Coordinator
Ashley received her B.S. in Psychology with an emphasis in biopsychology from the University of California, San Diego, and her M.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University. Ashley's research interests include affective disorder neuroimaging, clinical diagnostic and severity assessments, domestic and global data sharing initiatives, as well as the psychopharmacology, epigenetics, and translational research models of bipolar disorder and other disorders of deficient sensorimotor gating.
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Angelina Van Dyne
Ph.D. Student - Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego
Angelina is a Ph.D. student in the Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on implementing and evaluating educational curricula that foster mental health, empathy, and compassion. Prior to joining the team, Angelina worked on implementing and assessing tobacco prevention programs for adolescents, with a focus on rural populations. She has also conducted research on mental health outcomes for individuals with chronic illnesses, such as fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. Angelina is a native of Russia and completed her studies in journalism, with an emphasis on literary criticism, at Lomonosov Moscow State University. In her free time, Angelina enjoys spending time with her family, learning about local plants and new perfumes, as well as reading books where absolutely nothing happens.
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Erin Kinoshita
Administrative Assistant
Erin joined the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion in 2021. She is the Administrative Assistant for the Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education.
Previously Erin was the Executive Assistant to the Division Chief of Gastroenterology, Vice Chair for Clinical Operations Department of Medicine, and Director of the UCSD IBD Center, for eight years.
Before joining UCSD Erin was in the wellness industry for 10 years, as an owner and manager of a day spa, an instructor at several massage therapy schools and a licensed Holistic Healthcare Professional. Prior to that she was a Senior Engineer in Logistics as a civilian contractor for the Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service Command (NATEC). Erin was also a top sales performer and manager in the high tech and pharmaceutical industries.
Erin enjoys spending her free time with her family and volunteering at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and various children’s art programs.