Poverty, Stress and Societal Impacts
One of the grandest challenges of the 21st century is to address the extraordinarily complex societal problem of intergenerational transmission of disadvantage from poverty, stress and societal impacts. The UC Davis Neuroscience Consortium brings together teams of scientists using a multi-level, multi-systems approach – starting from the molecular/neuronal level all the way to the broader sociocultural context—to better understand the impact of poverty on brain development and function and to identify innovative strategies to mitigate and eventually prevent the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. Research among our 21 faculty from 11 departments and 7 centers in this area spans across a range of fields using cellular, computational and animal models, as well as humans and includes:
- Systems and cognitive neuroscientists studying the brain systems involved in drug addiction, psychiatric illness (depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia) and cognitive disorders (learning disabilities to dementias)
- Developmental neuroscientists and toxicologists studying the effects of poverty and environmental exposures (toxins, infection, nutritional deficiencies, and stress) on brain development and behavior
- Molecular neuroscientists identifying new targets for novel treatment strategies to mitigate the effects of poverty and environmental exposures on brain and behavior throughout the lifespan
- Developmental psychologists, behavior specialists and behavioral neuroscientists studying the effects of factors, such as parenting styles and familial support on psychosocial well-being
- Social and personality psychologists following families as in the California Families Project or the Vietnamese Insights into Aging Program, studying how factors such as social support, ethnic pride and ethnic enclaves, as well as personality traits, promote resilience
- Neurologists identifying factors associated with the onset of dementia in Latino families
- Pediatricians and Gerontologists studying the effects of poverty and other risk factors throughout the lifespan
Faculty studying poverty, stress and societal impacts
| R. Scott Akins, D.O. | Autism spectrum disorders; intellectual disability and Trisomy 21 |
| Karen L. Bales, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience of social bonds |
| Melissa D. Bauman, Ph.D. | Behavioral neuroscience; prenatal risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Craig Benham, Ph.D. | Mathematical and computational models of regulatory mechanisms, pathways, systems and networks, Bioinformatics, DNA mechanics |
| Shelley A. Blozis, Ph.D. | Development of statistical methods for clustered, repeated measures and longitudinal psychological health data. |
| Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, Ph.D. | Animal behavior, reproductive and behavioral endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, neurogenomics, ecophysiology, urban ecology |
| Amanda E. Guyer, Ph.D. | Adolescent neurodevelopment in health and depression, anxiety, and substance use |
| Paul Hastings, Ph.D. | Development of physiological, social and emotional functioning from early childhood into adulthood |
| Kevin Laugero, Ph.D. | Stress and nutrition interrelationships |
| A. Kimberley McAllister, Ph.D. | Synapse formation and plasticity; neuroimmune contributions to development and disease |
| Oanh Meyer, Ph.D., M.A.S. |
Socioeconomic status, stress and trauma’s impact on cognition |
| Elizabeth Prado, Ph.D. | Nutritional and other neurodevelopmental risks associated with poverty |
| Karen Ryan, Ph.D. | Neuroendocrine mechanisms by which environmental signals influence systemic metabolism; stress-related and metabolic disease |
| David J. Segal, Ph.D. | Genome and epigenomic editing for the study and treatment of neurologic disorders |
| Johnna Swartz, Ph.D. | Brain development and the development of mood and anxiety disorders |
| Lin Tian, Ph.D. | Tool development for analyzing and engineering functional neural circuits; Molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders |
| Brian Trainor, Ph.D. | Effects of stress on the brain and behavior; mood and anxiety disorders |
| Judith Anne Van de Water, Ph.D. | Neuroimmunology, clinical immunology and immunopathology, gestational immune environment |
| Danielle S. Stolzenberg, Ph.D. | Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms inexperience-dependent changes in caregiving behavior |
| Brian Trainor, Ph.D. | Effects of stress on the brain and behavior; mood and anxiety disorders |
| Jennifer L. Whistler, Ph.D. | Effects of clinically important drugs and drugs of abuse on the brain |