Jennifer A. Bartz

Professor Jennifer A. Bartz is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at McGill University, within the Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on the biological and situational factors influencing prosocial behavior, with a particular emphasis on attachment theory, oxytocin mechanisms, and social impairments in psychiatric disorders like autism and borderline personality disorder. She employs interdisciplinary methods from social psychology, neuroscience, and psychopharmacology.

Her work explores how neurobiological systems (e.g., opioid and oxytocin pathways) interact with individual differences and environmental contexts to shape empathy, trust, and relationship dynamics. The Bartz Lab investigates topics such as gene-environment interactions in attachment, stress effects on social cognition, and pharmacological interventions for social dysfunction. Notable contributions include studies on oxytocin’s dual role in promoting or hindering cooperation depending on personality traits.

Recent research highlights include examining opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) influences on maternal-child attachment, sex-specific effects of stress on empathy, and CD38’s role in communal behaviors. Her findings bridge basic science and clinical applications, aiming to improve treatments for social deficits in psychiatric populations.

Collaborations span genetics, neuroimaging, and behavioral experiments, with a focus on translational outcomes. She has published extensively in high-impact journals like Psychological Science, Translational Psychiatry, and Current Directions in Psychological Science, and maintains an active research program supported by grants from Canadian and international funding agencies.