The Stress and Development Lab (SDL) conducts research on how experiences of stress and adversity influence children’s brain and behavior development. In particular, our work focuses on identifying mechanisms linking adverse environmental experiences to the onset of psychopathology in children and adolescents. As part...

Representative Katherine Clark of the 5th District of Massachusetts has been a staunch advocate of funding for the National Institutes of Health and for behavioral and brain science. She is a leading advocate for trauma-informed care in schools and the health system. Lab Director Katie McLaughlin met with the Congresswoman along with Randy Buckner, Charles Nelson, and Jeremy Wolfe to discuss funding for early childhood interventions to prevent the health consequences of trauma exposure and other health priorities.  We are grateful to the Congresswoman for her tireless...

Both Azure Reid-Russell and Steven Kasparek, current lab managers in the Stress and Development Lab and rising first-year graduate students in clinical psychology at Harvard, have been recognized by the National Science Foundation for their applications to the Graduate Research Fellowship Program for 2019! 

The NSF GRFP is a highly-competitive fellowship intended to fund promising doctoral students in STEM-related master’s and doctoral programs.

Azure's application has received honorable mention, and she will have another chance to apply in...

The Stress and Development Lab (PI: Dr. Katie McLaughlin), in collaboration with the Lab of Youth Mental Health (PI: Dr. John Weisz), has just hired Dr. Leslie Rith-Najarian as a joint Post-Doctoral Fellow. Leslie will be collaborating accross both labs, combining Dr. McLaughlin's expertise in childhood maltreatment and neural mechanisms research with Dr. Weisz's research in youth clinical assessment and intervention to further develop her interest in clinical translational research. You can learn more about Dr. Rith-Najarian's interests ...