Sarah Stoycos

Dr. Stoycos is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California and Attending Psychologist for the Burn & Plastic Surgery Service. Their research focuses on development and implementation of screening and early intervention for traumatic stress in inpatient medical populations, treatment development for PTSD, and impact of PTSD treatments on co-occurring conditions. Dr. Stoycos earned her B.A. from University of Maryland, completed her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in the Department of Psychology, Clinical-Science Area, and completed her predoctoral internship at VA Boston Healthcare System in affiliation with Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine, specializing in rehabilitation and trauma psychology. They went on to complete a clinical research fellowship as a NIMH T32 Research Fellow in Traumatic Stress Disorders in the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry working with Drs. Denise Sloan and Johanna Thompson-Hollands.

In addition to their research, Dr. Stoycos has expertise in development and implementation of standardized mental health screening-intervention-referral pipelines, for inpatient/outpatient medicine units serving traumatic injury patients, to meet new accreditation requirements by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and American Burn Association. Dr. Stoycos is currently the Attending Psychologist at the LA General Burn ICU and Acute Floor, working with the Burn & Plastic Surgery Service to build a standardized mental health screening-intervention-referral program for burn patients and their loved ones.

• Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC: Psychiatry Faculty Academic Presentation Award, 2023
• Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology: Outstanding Clinician Award, 2019
• Department of Psychology, University of Southern California: Gerald C. Davison Award for Excellence in Science-Based Clinical Practice, 2019
• Osker Schindler Humanities Foundation: Irving and Jeanne Glovin Dissertation Research Award, 2018
• University of Southern California: Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Award, 2018
• USC Gould School of Law: Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics Student Scholar Research Fellowship, 2016
   – 2017
• National Science Foundation: Honorable Mention, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 2016
• National Academy of the Sciences: The Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences Cozzarelli Prize, 2015
• National Science Foundation: Honorable Mention, Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 2015
• UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center: 2014’s Top 10 Scientific Insights for Meaningful Life Award, 2014
• University of Southern California: Kellerman Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014
   – 2020
• Department of Psychology, University of Southern California: Research Travel Award, 2014
   – 2020
• Department of Psychology, University of Southern California: Summer Research Funding Award, 2014
   – 2020
• Department of Psychology, University of Maryland: Outstanding Research Poster Presentation in Social or Developmental Psychology Award, 2012

• University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD — B.A. — 2012 — Psychology
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA — M.A. — 2016 — Psychology
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA — Ph.D. — 2021 — Clinical-Science Psychology (APA and PCSAS accredited) & Neuroscience
• VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA — APPIC Internship (APA & PCSAS accredited) — 2021 — Rehabilitation and Trauma Psychology
• Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA — Clinical Fellow — 2021 — Clinical Psychology
• National Center for PTSD, VA Boston & Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA — NIMH T32 Fellowship — 2023 — Traumatic Stress Disorders

• Early intervention to prevent development of PTSD in burn survivors and their caregivers
  NIH · K23MH141296 · Sep 1, 2025 – Aug 31, 2029 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Southern California Burn Model System
  National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research · Sep 1, 2022 – Aug 31, 2027 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Postdoctoral Training Program in Stress and Trauma
  NIH · T32MH019836 · Aug 1, 1996 – Jul 31, 2026 · Role: NIMH T32 Fellow 2021-2023

• posttraumatic stress disorder
• traumatic injury
• written exposure therapy
• burns
• PTSD
• acute stress disorder
• ASD
• emotion regulation
• clinical psychology
• health psychology
• rehabilitation psychology

• Yenikomshian, Haig
• North, Caroline
• Pedersen, Eric
• Thompson, Paul
• Peterson, Bradley
• Blosnich, John