Department of Psychology

College of Humanities and Sciences

Current StudentsGive

Gemma Wallace

Gemma Wallace, Ph.D.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Assistant Professor

Clinical Psychology

Education

Fellowship, NIMH T32 in Suicide Research, Brown University
Pre-Doctoral Internship, Clinical Psychology Internship Training Program, Brown University
Ph.D., Psychology, Colorado State University
M.S., Psychology, Colorado State University
B.A., Biology, Whitman College

Research

Gemma Wallace, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and incoming Assistant Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (January 2027). Dr. Wallace’s research focuses on risk and resiliency for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, substance misuse, and commonly co-occurring concerns such as emotion dysregulation. Her work uses longitudinal and multivariate models to examine how risk for behavioral health concerns unfolds over time. 

Current studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention use wearable biosensors, ecological momentary assessment, and smartphone technology to examine biobehavioral risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in daily life. Other current focus areas include the roles of immunometabolic health and health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, diet) in mental health symptoms. Through this work, Dr. Wallace aims to advance understanding of suicide risk by uncovering the complex interplay of biological, psychological, behavioral, and socioenvironmental risk factors. Her ultimate goals are to improve personalized risk detection and inform precision interventions to prevent suicide.

Before joining VCU, Dr. Wallace was an Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and a faculty member in the Quantitative Sciences Program at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. As a clinician, she has worked with adults and adolescents in outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, inpatient psychiatric, and correctional settings.

Current Funding

  • National Institute of Mental Health K23MH140070 (PI: Wallace): "Ambulatory Assessment of Glucose Regulation in Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors." Role: Principal Investigator, Period: 05/2025-04/2030.
  • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention PRG-0-167-23 (PI: Wallace): "Noninvasive Continuous Measurement of Biochemical Markers for Suicide in a High-Risk Clinical Sample." Role: Principal Investigator, Period: 07/2025-06/2027.
  • American Foundation for Suicide Prevention LSRG-1-154-24 (MPI: Schatten & Elwy): “Expanding Access to Evidence-Based Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention in a Crisis Stabilization Setting.” Role: Co-Investigator/Statistician, Period: 01/2026-01/2028.
  • National Institute of Mental Health R01MH128248 (MPI: Armey, Hughes, Schatten): “Ecological Assessment of Proximal Risk Factors for Suicide During Care Transitions.” Role: Co-Investigator/Statistician, Period: 01/2023-10/2027.

Select Publications

  • Wallace, G. T., Beck, Q. M., Brick, L. A., Daniels, T. E., Gobin, A. P., Parade, S. H., & Tyrka, A. M. (2026). Childhood Trauma and Physical Activity Link Immunometabolic Biomarkers and Psychiatric Symptoms in Medically Healthy Adults. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 38, e28. https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2026.10069
  • Wallace, G. T., Bozzay, M. L., Brick, L. A., Miller, I. W., Mower Provost, E., & Schatten, H. S. (2025). Rumination as a within-person indirect pathway between daily negative life events and suicidal ideation in recently hospitalized adults. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 188, 153-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.05.050
  • Wallace, G. T., Brick, L. A., Provost, E. M., Peters, J. R., Miller, I. W., & Schatten, H. T. (2024). Daily levels and dynamic metrics of affective-cognitive constructs associate with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adults after psychiatric hospitalization. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 31(2), e2982. https://doi.org/10.1002/CPP.2982
  • Wallace, G. T. & Conner, B. T. (2024). Longitudinal panel networks of risk and protective factors for early adolescent suicidality in the ABCD sample. Development and Psychopathology, 37(4), 2038-2054. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579424001597
  • Wallace, G. T.,* Whichard, C.,* Augustyn, M., & Henry, K. L. (2022). Heavy episodic drinking in adolescence and alcohol-related problems in adulthood: A developmental approach to alcohol use across the life course. Development and Psychopathology, 36(1), 349-365. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579422001249 *Denotes equal authorship

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