Adolescence is a time of remarkable neurocognitive development, culminating – for many young people – in healthy mood and the transition to independence. However, it is also during adolescence that early symptoms of depression emerge, although we know little about why or for whom mood disorders will occur, or how to select and deliver effective intervention in critical early stages of illness. My work seeks to address these gaps by investigating the nature and developmental origins of depression, and advancing translational strategies to enhance wellness using scalable, personalized intervention. I am founding Director of the Center for Healthy Mind and Mood, which comprises a network of faculty, laboratories, and community and care partners, united in our mission to promote healthy mood and emotional resilience in adolescence and across the lifespan. As Director, I lead a portfolio of research and outreach programs aimed at accelerating discovery and supporting the next generation of scientists and youth advocates. My individual program of research is achieved in the work and training of the Research on Affective Disorders and Development Laboratory, where we leverage theory and methods drawn from clinical, cognitive-affective, developmental and computational psychology and neuroscience to explore depression and intervention. An integrative, interdisciplinary scientific orientation was central to my training (CU Boulder, combined Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience) and grounded my subsequent work as a clinical fellow (Yale School of Medicine), a postdoctoral scholar (Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital), my early faculty career (UCLA, 2016-2018) and my ongoing work at CU Boulder (2018-present). I am committed to high-impact innovation in transdisciplinary (across) and interdisciplinary (integrative) youth mental health science.
