معرفی
Dr. Laura Stroud is a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University. She directs the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital and leads the COBRE Center for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR), as well as the Maternal-Infant Studies Laboratory and Child and Adolescent Stress Laboratory. Her work focuses on biobehavioral mechanisms of mood and addictive disorders, with emphasis on fetal-infant and adolescent development. Dr. Stroud’s research integrates neurobiological and behavioral markers of risk, exploring stress responses and substance use in pregnancy, as well as resilience pathways across the lifespan.
Education: AB in Human Biology from Stanford University (1990s), PhD in Psychology from Yale University (1999), postdoctoral training at Brown University (2001). She has held faculty positions since 2001, receiving continuous NIH funding since 2001 and multiple awards including the NARSAD Young Investigator Awards and the Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award from NIDA.
Research interests span prenatal substance use (tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarettes), neuroendocrine pathways (HPA axis, cortisol), placental epigenetics, and adolescent depression. Her labs investigate fetal development via novel ultrasound measures and neurobehavioral paradigms. She co-directs the STAR T32 postdoctoral fellowship program, mentoring early-career researchers in stress and resilience science.
Key achievements include over 120 peer-reviewed publications, leadership roles in national initiatives, and service on editorial boards (Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Nicotine and Tobacco Research). Her work has informed public health policies on e-cigarette use and maternal health, including contributions to the 2016 Surgeon General’s report.
Dr. Stroud’s labs collaborate across disciplines, bridging clinical, basic, and translational research to address disparities in mental and physical health outcomes. Current projects include studying prenatal cannabis exposure’s impact on placental transcriptomics and developing interventions to reduce substance use in vulnerable populations.
