Many detrimental health outcomes are preventable through behavior change and shifts in our mindsets and attitudes. Our division does research that increases our understanding of the behavioral, psychological and social-interpersonal processes that impact important health outcomes such as disease prevention, healthy child development, healthy aging and longevity."
Dan Mroczek, PhD
Division Chief, Determinants of Health
The Determinants of Health Division investigates how psychological, social, developmental, biological and behavioral processes influence health and disease outcomes. This foundational research informs the development and implementation of future interventions. Our division includes experts in research methods, data modeling, statistical techniques and research design.
Key areas of expertise include:
- Personality and health
- Developmental psychopathology
- Aging
- Brain health and dementia
- Physical heath in sexual and gender minority populations
- Health disparities
- Cancer survivorship
- Neuroscience
Research Programs & Labs
Lauren Wakschlag, PhD How early development shapes mental health
As a developmental and clinical psychologist, Wakschlag's scientific focus is on how early development (from the prenatal-preschool period) shapes mental health pathways.
For more information see Wakschlag's faculty profile or the Institute of Developmental Science (DevSci) website.
Elizabeth Johnson, PhD | Dynamic Brain Lab Brain dynamics and information processing
We study the brain dynamics underlying information encoding, retrieval, and use across the human lifespan, from neurons to large-scale networks.
For more information see Johnson's faculty profile or the Dynamic Brain Lab website.
Michelle Birkett, PhD Using data science to study health inequities
Using data science to study health inequities
Birkett is a transdisciplinary scientist who uniquely and effectively bridges social science, population health and data science. Her program improves population health by developing and applying novel network, quantitative, and computational methods to measure the social and structural drivers of health, particularly the health inequities experienced by racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minority populations.
She also leads a team which is currently revolutionizing the ability for scientists to capture social network survey data. Their software, Network Canvas, is a free and open-source NIH-supported tool which is already being utilized by a broad research community across the world.
She serves as the Director of the CONNECT Complex Systems and Health Disparities Research Program under the Institute of Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, as a faculty affiliate of Institute for Policy Research, and as a core faculty member of The Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems.
For more information see Birkett's faculty profile, the Network Canvas, or I.AIM.
Recent Publications
- Differential item functioning of PROMIS Sleep Disturbance-Short Form 8a across levels of health literacy in a community sample of adults. Mohamed R, et al. Among authors: griffith jw.
Psychol Assess. 2026 Mar 5:10.1037/pas0001449. doi: 10.1037/pas0001449. Online ahead of print.
- Development and validation of the visual reasoning test for the NIH Toolbox. Slotkin J, Tyner CE, Ho EH, Kaat AJ, Dworak EM, Laforte E, Ma M, Han YC, Aytürk E, Zhang M, Tulsky DS, Gershon R.
Psychol Assess. 2026 Feb;38(2):102-114. doi: 10.1037/pas0001425. Epub 2025 Nov 3.
- Partnership makes performance: integration approaches to optimise implementation science and quality improvement collaboration. Beidas RS, Barnard C, Hirschhorn LR, Rafferty MR, Scott K, Becker SJ, Franklin PD.
BMJ Qual Saf. 2026 Jan 19;35(2):141-146. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2025-019038.
- Lasting Influence of Prenatal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection on Offspring Neurodevelopmental Health and Functioning. O'Shea TM, Blackwell CK.
Obstet Gynecol. 2026 Jan 1;147(1):8-10. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000006134.
- Meaningful differences and changes for five Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System domains in a large cohort of patients with cancer. Llave K, Kim J, Kuharic M, Jackson K, Lancki N, Webster KA, Cella D.
Cancer. 2026 Jan 1;132(1):e70219. doi: 10.1002/cncr.70219.
- Stress Reaction and Fractures. Bergman R, Kaiser K.
2025 Apr 3. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026 Jan–.
- Implementation outcomes of a symptom management intervention in ambulatory oncology practices evaluated using a cluster randomized stepped-wedge trial design. Smith JD, et al. Among authors: garcia sf, cella d, bass m.
Implement Sci. 2025 Dec 2;21(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s13012-025-01475-y.
- Person-, Job-, and Environment-Related Factors Associated with Long-Term Job Retention of People with Physical Disabilities. Kudla A, Dinelli EJ, Capraro P, S Crown D, Sheth M, Trierweiler R, Munsell E, Wong J, Heinemann AW.
J Occup Rehabil. 2025 Dec;35(4):860-875. doi: 10.1007/s10926-024-10245-4. Epub 2024 Nov 3.
- Employers' Perspectives on Challenges and Strategies Related To Employment of People with Physical Disabilities: Findings from a National Survey in the United States. Yang B, Dinelli EJ, Choi H, Crown DS, Kudla A, Wong J, Trierweiler R, Capraro P, Heinemann AW.
J Occup Rehabil. 2025 Nov 27. doi: 10.1007/s10926-025-10345-9. Online ahead of print.
- The use of Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R) in comparing the experiences of mothers with and without HIV in Tanzania. Mbwele B, Joctan ZZ, Hawkins C, Caputo M, August F, Kaaya S, Mbugi EV, Hirschhorn LR, Franklin PD; Vijiji Tanzania.
BMJ Glob Health. 2025 Nov 23;10(11):e016745. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-016745.