Kaja LeWinn

Kaja LeWinn, Sc.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Division at the University of California, San Francisco, where she serves as faculty at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. She holds a leadership position in multiple research initiatives focused on child development and environmental health.

Dr. LeWinn earned her Sc.D. in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University in 2007, following an M.S. in Social Epidemiology from Harvard in 2003. She completed postdoctoral training through the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program at UCSF and UC Berkeley (2007-2010) and the Clinical Health Services Research Training Program at UCSF (2010-2012).

Dr. LeWinn takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how social context influences cognitive and socioemotional development during childhood and adolescence. Her research integrates neuroscience, psychology, and epidemiology to generate findings about early life experiences that shape risk for psychopathology in pediatric populations experiencing adversity. She conducts work at multiple levels of analysis, including longitudinal epidemiological cohort studies and large neuroimaging studies to understand the neural underpinnings of socioemotional development.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on environmental influences on child health outcomes, particularly examining how air pollution, chemical exposures, and social stressors impact neurodevelopment, respiratory health, and mental health outcomes. Her work often involves large-scale cohort studies like the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, with significant attention to health disparities and the intersection of chemical and non-chemical stressors.

• National Institute of Mental Health 2012 K01 Career Development Award
• National Academy of Sciences 2011 Sackler Colloquia Travel Award
• UCSF/UC Berkeley 2007-2010 Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Fellow
• Harvard University 2006-2007 Achievement Gap Initiative Fellowship Recipient

Dr. LeWinn plays a major leadership role in three large cohort studies focused on neurodevelopmental outcomes. She is Co-Scientific Director of the CANDLE study (over 1,500 women and children), M-PI of PATHWAYS (a combined cohort of 3,500 mother-child dyads), and Co-PI of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded cohort study in Flint, Michigan assessing the impact of lead exposure during the Flint water crisis. Her research has been funded by NIH, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other major organizations.

Her laboratory work focuses on integrating environmental exposure data with neurodevelopmental outcomes, particularly examining how early life adversity interacts with environmental factors to shape child health trajectories. She leads a multidisciplinary team that includes epidemiologists, neuroscientists, statisticians, and clinical researchers working across multiple institutions.