معرفی
Jennifer Byrd-Craven, Ph.D. serves as a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University, where she directs the Byrd-Craven Psychobiology Lab and contributes to the Oklahoma Center for Evolutionary Analysis (OCEAN). Her work bridges psychology and integrative biology through interdisciplinary research on neuroendocrine mechanisms in human social behavior.
Her research focuses on behavioral endocrinology and the psychobiology of stress responses, with specialized interests in female social dynamics, paternal investment in infant development, and sex differences in stress reactivity. Current investigations examine how family relationships—including female friendships, mating dynamics, and father-infant bonding—influence cortisol synchrony and developmental outcomes. The lab employs mixed methods including saliva assays, video coding of social interactions, and longitudinal assessments of physiological markers.
Dr. Byrd-Craven leads the Dads And Development of Infants in Oklahoma (DADIO) project, a longitudinal study tracking families from pregnancy through infant 18 months to analyze how father involvement shapes mother-infant biorhythm establishment. This NIH-associated research involves home visits, hormone sampling, and behavioral observations across diverse family structures.
As part of OCEAN, she co-hosts joint graduate lab meetings with Integrative Biology faculty to train underrepresented students and promote interdisciplinary collaboration. Her lab actively recruits undergraduate research assistants for hands-on experience in data entry, protocol development, and conference presentation preparation.
