Preventing Depression.
Fostering Lifelong Resilience.
We are identifying strategies to reduce the burden of mental illness and promote lifelong brain health.
Our Current Studies
Stress is a key risk factor for depression, but not everyone exposed to stress or trauma develops mental health issues. Our research investigates how genetic variation and life experiences combine to shape both risk and resilience to depression.
While stress is known to increase depression risk, how does it trigger the biological changes behind this vulnerability? We study how early adversity leaves lasting biological memories through epigenetic changes like DNA methylation, impacting depression risk from childhood to adulthood.
Emerging evidence shows that early experiences impact mental health most during "sensitive periods"—times of heightened brain plasticity when experiences can have lasting effects. Our team aims to identify these periods prenatally, during infancy, childhood, and beyond.
Recent advances in biomarker science are uncovering tools like neuroimaging and genetic markers to predict mental health risks, but they're often costly and invasive. Our team is exploring baby teeth as a novel, less invasive biomarker for mental illness risk.
