Gayathri Pandey

Dr. Gayathri Pandey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. She specializes in social neuroscience, focusing on the interplay between social relationships, brain function, and mental health across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on alcohol use disorders and resilience mechanisms.

• NIH-sponsored TRANSPORT fellowship recipient
• First PRODiG faculty in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
• K01 award from NIA/NIAAA
• Co-investigator on multiple R01 and U01 grants

Her research integrates biopsychosocial approaches to examine familial risk factors, neurocognitive biomarkers, and social-environmental influences on mental health. She has received recognition for her work on parent-child bonding's protective role in neurocognitive health among high-risk offspring, featured in Psychology Today, Neuroscience News, and the Thriving Minds podcast.

Dr. Pandey's interdisciplinary training spans clinical psychology, neuroscience & education, and social & personality psychology. She employs advanced neuroimaging techniques, polygenic risk scores, and machine learning to analyze developmental trajectories of resilience and risk in substance use disorders.

• Principal Investigator for K01-AA030610 (2024-2029): Interplay of parenting, genetics, and brain function in alcohol use disorder
• Co-Investigator for COGA (Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism) and other NIH-funded projects