Early-Life Stress: Long-Lasting Impact on Brain Circuitry and Behavior

Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Early-Life Stress: Long-Lasting Impact on Brain Circuitry and Behavior

Watch Video Recording:

Presented by 
BJ Casey, Ph.D.
BJ Casey, Ph.D.
Weill Cornell Medical College

Director and Sackler Professor of Developmental Psychobiology

Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology

Scientific Council Member Emeritus (Joined 2006)

2015 Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research

 

Dr. Casey has been a pioneer in novel uses of brain imaging to understand childhood disorders, using imaging to develop fundamental models of typical and atypical brain development. Her research focuses on the development of the brain circuitry involved in learning and behavior regulation and how disruptions in these brain systems can give rise to a number of disorders in children. She is identifying genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the risk for disorders developing in childhood and learning how these factors can vary over the course of development. Her recent discoveries of the biological factors related to vulnerability and resilience to mental illness during the early postnatal and adolescence periods—sensitive windows of development—have important implications for the timing and development of new interventions and treatments.

Dr. Casey joined Weill Cornell Medical College in 1999 after teaching as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh for five years.

Moderated by
Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
 

Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., serves as the President & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the largest private funder of mental health research grants. Dr. Borenstein developed the Emmy-nominated public television program “Healthy Minds,” and serves as host and executive producer of the series. The program, broadcast nationwide, is available online, and focuses on topics in psychiatry in order to educate the public, reduce stigma and offer a message of hope. Dr. Borenstein also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric News, the newspaper of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Borenstein is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and serves as the Chair of the Section of Psychiatry at the Academy. He also has served as the President of the New York State Psychiatric Association. Dr. Borenstein earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard and his medical degree at New York University.