Canan Karatekin

Canan Karatekin is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development. She holds a BA in Psychology from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA. Her career spans multiple research phases, initially focusing on cognitive impairments in youth-onset psychosis and ADHD, later shifting to the child welfare system, and currently concentrating on structural and social determinants of health inequities in children.

• Education: BA (Harvard), Ph.D. (UCLA)
• Research Evolution: Cognitive Neuroscience → Child Maltreatment → Structural Determinants of Health

Her current research examines how societal agents (governments, corporations, media) and structural systems (laws, policies, ideologies) shape children’s health and wellbeing. She emphasizes upstream interventions to prevent adversities rather than mitigate their effects post hoc.

Her recent publications explore electoral bias impacts on child policy, ACEs measurement frameworks, healthcare utilization in maltreated youth, and juvenile court dynamics. These works often intersect with public health, political systems, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Dr. Karatekin advises graduate students through her Child Wellbeing Research Group and is available for PhD advising starting Fall 2026. She publishes extensively in journals like Social Science and Medicine, Child Abuse & Neglect, and Schizophrenia Bulletin.