About
Professor Michael Pluess is a Professor of Developmental Psychology at Queen Mary University of London, affiliated with the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences. His research focuses on developmental plasticity, gene-environment interactions, and resilience, particularly through frameworks like Differential Susceptibility and Vantage Sensitivity. Key projects include the BIOPATH study on Syrian refugee children, the DreamLab Programme for youth development, and genetic moderation research in relationships (GENREL study). He has advised three PhD students: Tom Falkenstein, Jenni Kähkönen, and Yuanyuan Huang.
Research interests span prenatal programming of plasticity, genetic influences on environmental responsiveness, and interventions to foster resilience. Notable contributions include defining vantage sensitivity as a mechanism for positive environmental influence and exploring how genetic variants moderate developmental outcomes. His work integrates neuroscience, psychology, and genetics to understand individual differences in adaptation across life stages.
Pluess has collaborated on global mental health initiatives in humanitarian settings, such as the Strengths of the Journey Intervention for displaced youth and the t-CETA phone-delivered intervention for Syrian refugee children. His team develops behavioral and teacher-rated measures of environmental sensitivity in educational contexts (EStoSCHOOL and EStoPARENTING studies). Recent publications emphasize epigenetic pathways, the role of maternal sensitivity, and the neurobiological correlates of environmental responsiveness.
