I am a Professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator in the Brain and Mind Group at the University of Western Ontario. My research takes a developmental psychopathology approach to understanding the biological and contextual pathways to adaptive and pathological mood dysregulation, with a particular focus on understanding which children are most vulnerable to negative outcomes following exposure to early adversity. This research program necessitates a multimethod approach, and incorporates methods such as observational measures of child emotionality (i.e., temperament) and the early home environment, structured clinical interviews, psychophysiological approaches, imaging, and genetic methods. This work, which has spanned the entirety of my research career, takes a lifespan approach and uses longitudinal designs to examine relevant processes in children and adults, as well as patient and nonpatient samples. As an independent investigator or coinvestigator, I have received generous research support from multiple funding agencies to develop this program of research, including support from NARSAD, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, SSHRC, NSERC, and NIMH.
