Erin Wood

Dr. Erin Wood is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Department of Psychology). Her research focuses on social-environmental stressors, family structure, and peer relationships influencing emotional, social, and biological development, particularly in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

• Ph.D., Experimental Psychology (Developmental & Comparative Neurobiology), Oklahoma State University, 2021
• M.S., Psychology, Oklahoma State University, 2019
• B.S., Psychology, Oklahoma State University, 2016

Dr. Wood’s research integrates developmental psychology and neuroendocrinology, examining how emotions, mindsets, and attributions affect behavioral development. She investigates the interplay of HPA/HPG axes activity with family dynamics and substance use in adolescents, emphasizing gender differences and protective factors like stable family/peer relationships.

Her publications span topics such as adolescent stress, neuroendocrine attunement, alcohol use interventions, and risk-taking behaviors. Key trends include family influences on cortisol patterns, gender-specific behavioral outcomes, and neurobiological correlates of risky decision-making.

• Enoch Gordis Research Recognition Award Finalist, Research Society on Alcoholism, 2022
• NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2021-2022
• Three Minute Thesis People's Choice Award, Oklahoma State University, 2019
• Women's Faculty Research Award, Oklahoma State University, 2019
• Women for OSU Philanthropy Scholarship, 2018-2019
• Preparing Future Faculty in Psychology Fellowship, 2016-2019
• Lew Wentz Research Grant, Oklahoma State University, 2016

Dr. Wood has taught courses on child development (PSYC 216) and adolescence (PSYC 320). She collaborates with the Family Studies Lab under Dr. Karen Rudolph and has contributed to research on adolescent substance use at the University of Texas Health Science Center.