Mechanisms of Health and Disease

The Mechanisms of Health and Disease Hub is a collaborative of scientists seeking to understand health and disease pathways in order improve health, development and quality of life across the lifespan. This research emphasizes malleable developmental, neuroscientific, stress-related and contextual mechanisms that have the greatest potential to be harnessed for disease prevention and health promotion.

This hub is a nexus for diverse scientists who use innovative methods to shed light on causal processes, individual differences and health- and disease-related processes in the developmental, biological and social contexts in which they are expressed.”

Lauren S. Wakschlag, PhD
Hub director

Mechanisms of Health and Disease Hub Leadership

Our major goal is to uncover links between patterns of brain development and clinical and functional outcomes so that these may be harnessed to improve health and developmental outcomes.

Due to our strong emphasis on methods and cross-fertilization across multiple programs within the hub, we are able to expand our reach and apply innovations from one discipline to another. Major areas of emphasis among hub members currently include the developmental origins of risk and resilience, including developmentally sensitive measurement in first years of life, the creation of brain-targeted interventions to directly alter cognitive functions such as memory and decision-making and the examination of stress as an influence on a variety of health outcomes, ranging from neurodevelopment to cancer survivorship. Come learn about and join our efforts to reshape the trajectory of quality of life and developmental outlook through discovery and characterization of relevant mechanisms.

Our Scientists

Primary Faculty

Renee Edwards, PhD
Katherina Hauner, PhD
Jessica Horowitz, PhD
Sheila Krogh-Jespersen, PhD
Lisa Johnson, PhD
Leigha MacNeill, PhD
Laurie Wakschlag, PhD
Yudong Zhang, PhD

Secondary Faculty

Elizabeth Addington, PhD
Lauren Beach, PhD
Michelle Birkett, PhD
Courtney Blackwell, PhD
David Cella, PhD
Richard Gershon, PhD
James Griffith, PhD
Julie Hook, MBA, PhD
Patrick Janulis, PhD
Sally Jensen, PhD
Aaron Kaat, PhD
Michael Kallen, PhD, MPH
Jin-Shei Lai, PhD
Maxwell Mansolf, PhD
Judith Moskowitz, PhD
Daniel Mroczek, PhD
Brian Mustanski, PhD
Miriam Novack, PhD
Cindy Nowinski, MD, PhD
Gregory Phillips II, PhD
Benjamin Schalet, PhD
Yusuke Shono, PhD
Betina Yanez, PhD

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