Kathryn Humphreys

Kathryn Humphreys is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, where she directs the Vanderbilt Stress and Early Adversity (SEA) Laboratory. Her research focuses on understanding how early life experiences, particularly stress and adversity, influence neurobiological and psychological development across the lifespan. She investigates prenatal and postnatal factors affecting maternal mental health, caregiver-child interactions, and the neurodevelopmental consequences of adverse exposures such as opioid use and institutional deprivation.

Key research areas include:

• Neural and behavioral effects of early adversity
• Prenatal and postnatal mental health
• Developmental neuroscience
• Intervention strategies for at-risk populations

Her work integrates neuroimaging, behavioral assessments, and computational methods to study topics like caregiver sensitivity, infant emotion recognition, and the biological underpinnings of psychopathology. Recent projects examine how AI can analyze caregiver-child interactions and quantify brain development in longitudinal studies like the HEALthy Brain and Child Development initiative.

Dr. Humphreys has contributed to understanding the long-term impacts of early deprivation through studies like the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, which tracks outcomes for children transitioned from institutional care. Her research emphasizes translational approaches to bridge basic science and clinical practice.