Ryan Bogdan has been named the William R. Stuckenberg Professor in Human Values and Moral Development within the Psychological & Brain Sciences Department.

Dr. Bogdan directs the Behavioral Research and Imaging Neurogenetics (BRAIN) lab, where his team studies mental health, substance involvement, and their biological (e.g., brain structure and function, inflammation) and environmental (e.g., prenatal exposures, adversity) correlates across the lifespan from the prenatal period to later life. Their work has characterized genetic correlates of mental health and examined putative biological and behavioral mechanistic pathways through which genetic variability and experiences shape psychiatric risk. As part of the national HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, Ryan, his colleagues, and their research teams, are recruiting and longitudinally assessing thousands of pregnant women and their children to understand factors influencing early life brain and behavioral development. These data are being made available to approved researchers across the nation to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery.

Ultimately, Ryan hopes that his work will help identify risk factors for psychopathology and substance involvement as well as the mechanisms through which they are expressed to promote psychoeducation and the refinement and development of preventative approaches and treatments to limit the burden of mental health and substance involvement to individuals, their families, and society.