Christopher Lee Averill
Picture
Positions
- Program Manager, Clinical Research Lead
-
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences & Core for Advanced MRI (CAMRI)
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas US
At Baylor College of Medicine, I serve as Program Manager for the Core for Advanced MRI (CAMRI) and the Emerge Research Program within the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. In these roles, I lead advanced neuroimaging operations, support interdisciplinary collaborations, and provide strategic insights that drive innovation across psychiatry and neuroscience research. Recognized for exceeding performance standards, I contribute to groundbreaking studies, optimize workflows, and help secure major funding for transformative research initiatives.
- Neuroimaging Specialist, Research Associate 3
-
Psychiatry
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut United States
At Yale School of Medicine, I spearheaded pioneering neuroimaging research that advanced our understanding of PTSD and depression, leading to significant publications in high-impact journals. My strategic insights and interdisciplinary collaborations were instrumental in securing substantial NIH and federal funding for innovative psychiatric research across multiple disciplines. Additionally, I provided mentorship and guidance to fellow investigators, enhancing the quality and impact of their research endeavors.
- Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
-
InteraSolutions, Inc
Orem, Utah United States
As Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at InteraSolutions, Inc., I focus on advancing solutions in the addiction and opioid epidemic space. I lead the development of proprietary software, clinical applications, and behavioral health tools, including the award-winning OARS™ platform, which earned $210,000 in the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge. My work integrates cutting-edge technology and research to address critical challenges in addiction and behavioral health.
- Owner
-
TEKGY (formerly Adaptive Reality)
Salt Lake City, Utah United States
As the founder of Adaptive Reality, later rebranded as TEKGY, I built and scaled a successful innovation consulting business that served over 200 clients across multiple states and countries over a decade. In addition to offering advanced data analysis, software development, and psychological scale design, I provided fractional CTO services to startups and small businesses, helping them navigate technical challenges and scale effectively. By combining technical expertise, strategic insight, and tailored solutions, I established a business recognized for driving innovation and delivering high-impact results across industries and disciplines.
Addresses
- Office (Office)
-
1 Baylor Plaza S104N
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (832) 271-6615
chris.averill@bcm.edu
Education
- BS from Westminster College
- 06/2005 - Salt Lake City, Utah United States
- Biology
Professional Statement
At Baylor College of Medicine, I lead programs that drive innovation in psychiatry and neuroscience. I manage both the Core for Advanced MRI (CAMRI) and the Emerge Research Program within the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. My work brings together people, ideas, and processes to solve challenges that demand precision and creativity. From designing advanced neuroimaging studies to refining safety protocols, I focus on creating solutions that elevate research and its outcomes.I am consistently rated as exceeding the college’s highest standards including in my role as a “change agent.” This recognition reflects my ability to identify opportunities in complex systems and deliver strategies that improve efficiency, inspire innovation, and drive measurable results. Investigators across disciplines turn to me for insights that help secure funding, reshape research approaches, and refine workflows to unlock greater potential in their programs.
Colleagues often describe me as indispensable, a secret ingredient, bringing profound insight, explosive creativity, clarity and improvements wherever I’m involved. Whether optimizing an imaging protocol or fMRI paradigm, offering feedback on a grant proposal, or troubleshooting a technical challenge, I help align resources and ideas so investigators can build unprecedented levels of success.
Research is a system of interconnected opportunities waiting to be realized. By fostering collaboration, building alignment, and amplifying the brilliance of the most promising scientific minds, I help create environments where bold ideas thrive, and innovation is the norm. My focus is always on making the complex clear and the ambitious achievable.
Websites
You can review my scholarly publication and presentation history at ResearchGate.
Videos
This video was created in Blender using meshes from one of the combat control (non-PTSD) participants described in the manuscript. It demonstrates the gray matter subfields of the hippocampal formation, and steps through the anatomy to better visualize the more hidden subfields.
See:
Averill, C.L., Satodiya, R.M., Scott, J.C., Wrocklage, K.M., Schweinsburg, B., Averill, L.A., Akiki, T.J., Amoroso, T., Southwick, S.M., Krystal, J.H., Abdallah, C.G. (2017). PTSD and depression symptom severities are differentially associated with hippocampal subfield volume loss in combat veterans. Chronic Stress, 1.
Selected Publications
- Averill CL, Abdalla CG, Averill LA "When the "Golden Chain" Breaks: Sleep Disturbance and the Vicious Cycle of Chronic Stress." Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2019 Dec;4(12):1018-1020. Pubmed PMID: 31812223
- Averill CL, Averill LA, Wreckage KM, Scott JC, Akiki TJ, Schweinsburg B, Southwick SM, Krystal JH, Abdallah CG "Altered White Matter Diffusivity of the Cingulum Angular Bundle in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Mol Neuropsychiatry. 2018 Oct;4(2):75-82. Pubmed PMID: 30397595
- Averill CL, Averill LA, Fan S, Abdallah CG "Of Forests and Trees: Bridging the Gap Between Neurobiology and Behavior in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2020 Feb;5(2):35-137. Pubmed PMID: 32035611
- Averill CL, Satodiya RM, Scott JC, Wrocklage KM, Schweinsburg B, Averill LA, Akiki TJ, Amoroso T, Southwick SM, Krystal JH, Abdallah CG "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression Symptom Severities Are Differentially Associated With Hippocampal Subfield Volume Loss in Combat Veterans." Chronic Stress. 2017; Pubmed PMID: 29520395
- Averill LA, Averill CL, Gueorguieva R, Fouda S, Sherif M, Ahn KH, Ranganathan M, D'Souza DC, Southwick SM, Sanacora G, Duman RS, Krystal JH, Abdallah CG "mTORC1 inhibitor effects on rapid ketamine-induced reductions in suicidal ideation in patients with treatment-resistant depression." J Affect Disord. 2022;(303):91-97. Pubmed PMID: 35101523
- Averill LA, Jiang L, Purohit P, Coppoli A, Averill CL, Roscoe J, Kelmendi B, De Feyter HM, de Graaf RA, Gueorguieva R, Sanacora G, Krystal JH, Rothman DL, Mason GF, Abdallah CG "Prefrontal Glutamate Neurotransmission in PTSD: A Novel Approach to Estimate Synaptic Strength in Vivo in Humans." Chronic Stress. 2022;24705470221092734. Pubmed PMID: 35434443
- Ragnhildstveit A, Roscoe J, Bass LC, Averill CL, Abdallah CG, Averill LA "The potential of ketamine for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of clinical evidence." Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2023 Mar; Pubmed PMID: 36895431
- Clausen AN, Fercho KA, Monsour M, Disner S, Salminen L, Haswell CC, Rubright EC, Watts AA, Buckley MN, Maron-Katz A, Sierk A, Manthey A, Suarez-Jimenez B, Olatunji BO, Averill CL [and other authors for the ENIGMA PTSD and brain age working groups] "Assessment of brain age in posttraumatic stress disorder: Findings from the ENIGMA PTSD and brain age working groups." Brain Behav. 2022;12(2) Pubmed PMID: 34907666
- Adams TG, Cisler JM, Kelmendi B, George JR, Kichuk SA, Averill CL, Anticevic A, Abdallah CG, Pittenger C "Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the medial prefrontal cortex modulates functional connectivity and enhances safety learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Results from two pilot studies." Depress Anxiety. 2022 Jan;39(1):37-48. Pubmed PMID: 34464485
- Zhu X, Kim Y, Ravid O, He X, Suarez-Jimenez B, Zilcha-Mano S, Lazarov A, Lee S, Abdallah CG, Angstadt M, Averill CL, [and other authors from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD consortium] "Neuroimaging-based classification of PTSD using data-driven computational approaches: A multisite big data study from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD consortium." NeuroImage. 2023 Dec;283 Pubmed PMID: 37858907
- Tamman AJF, Jiang L, Averill CL, Mason GF, Averill LA, Abdallah CG "Biological embedding of early trauma: the role of higher prefrontal synaptic strength." Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2023;14(2) Pubmed PMID: 37642398
- Averill LA, Averill CL, Akiki TJ, Abdallah CG "Chapter 9: Examining Neurocircuitry and neuroplasticity in PTSD. In: Friedman MJ, Schnurr PP, and Keane TM, eds. Handbook of PTSD, Science and Practice. 3rd ed. Guilford Press.." 2021;152-167.
- Yip SW, Lichenstein SD, Garrison K, Averill CL, Viswanath H, Salas R, Abdallah CG "Effects of Smoking Status and State on Intrinsic Connectivity." Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2022 Sep;7(9) Pubmed PMID: 33618016
- Fan S, Nemati S, Akiki TJ, Roscoe J, Averill CL, Fouda S, Averill LA, Abdallah CG "Pretreatment brain connectome fingerprint predicts treatment response in major depressive disorder." Chronic Stress. 2020;4 Pubmed PMID: 33458556
- Dai D, Lacadie CM, Holmes SE, Cool R, Anticevic A, Averill CL, Abdallah CG, Esterlis I "Ketamine normalizes the structural alterations of inferior frontal gyrus in depression." Chronic Stress. 2020;4 Pubmed PMID: 33426409
- Abdallah CG, Ahn K, Averill LA, Nemati S, Averill CL, Fouda S, Ranganathan M, Morgan PT, D'Souza DC, Mathalon DH, Krystal JH, Driesen NR "A robust and reproducible connectome fingerprint of ketamine is highly associated with the connectomic signature of antidepressants." Neuropsychopharmacology. 2021;46(2) Pubmed PMID: 32967000
- Averill LA, Averill CL, Abdallah CG "Neurobiological mechanisms of ketamine: Depression, suicide, trauma and other chronic stress pathologies." Psychiatr Ann. 2020;50(2)
- Averill CL, Averill LA, Akiki TJ, Fouda S, Krystal JH, Abdallah CG "Findings of PTSD-specific deficits in default mode network strength following a mild experimental stressor.." NPP—Digit Psychiatry Neurosci. 2024 Jun 17;2(9):1-8. Pubmed PMID: 38919723
Projects
- Applications of Generative AI in Neuroimaging
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Houston, TX
- PI: Chadi G Abdallah, MD
- The STARLIGHT Protocol (State Funded Trial Assessing Recovery and Long-Term Impact of Guided Psilocybin for Healing Trauma)
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Houston, TX
- Study funded by Texas HB-1802 (2021). PI: Lynnette A. Averill, PhD
- Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Active Duty Service Members with PTSD
- Usona Institute
- Michael E. DeBakey VA selected as one of the study sites for Usona Psilocybin Phase 3 FDA Trial. PI: Lynnette A. Averill, PhD
- Modulation of the Psychedelic Effects of Psilocybin Using 5-HT2A Antagonist Pimavanserin
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Houston, TX
- PI: Chadi G Abdallah, MD
- Structural & Functional Neural Alterations in Suicidality Among Veterans with PTSD
- Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Hospital
- Houston, TX
- PI: Lynnette A. Averill, PhD
- Psilocybin Assisted Therapy for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in PTSD: A Pilot Study
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Houston, TX
- First trial of psilocybin for PTSD funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). PI: Amanda J. F. Tamman, PhD
- Centralized Screening and Neuroimaging Protocol for Studies of Stress- and Trauma-Related Mental Disorders
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Houston, TX
- PI: Chadi G. Abdallah, PhD
- BrainLM: A foundation model for brain activity recordings
- Yale University & Baylor College of Medicine
- New Haven, CT & Houston, TX
- Yale PI: David van Dijk, PhD. BCM PI: Chadi G. Abdallah MD. We introduce the Brain Language Model (BrainLM), a foundation model for brain activity dynamics trained on 6,700 hours of fMRI recordings. Utilizing self-supervised masked-prediction training, BrainLM demonstrates proficiency in both fine-tuning and zero-shot inference tasks. Fine-tuning allows for the prediction of clinical variables and future brain states. In zero-shot inference, the model identifies functional networks and generates interpretable latent representations of neural activity. Furthermore, we introduce a novel prompting technique, allowing BrainLM to function as an in silico simulator of brain activity responses to perturbations. BrainLM offers a novel framework for the analysis and understanding of large-scale brain activity data, serving as a “lens” through which new data can be more effectively interpreted. https://huggingface.co/vandijklab/brainlm https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.12.557460v1
Skills
- Amplifier of Genius
- Vision Catalyst
- Transformational Insight
- Multidisciplinary Strategy
- Rhizomatic Polymath
- Team Building
- Research & Analysis
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
- Leadership
- Programming & Data Science
- Entrepreneurship
- Innovation & Continuous Improvement
- AI Integration
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration
- Systems Thinking
- Data Visualization
- Regulatory Compliance
- Advanced Algorithm Development
- Scientific Communication (SciCom)
- Grant Writing
- Grant Development
- Hybrid System Design
- Strategic Innovation
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
Log In to edit your profile
