.jpg "Kristen C. Jacobson, PhD photo")
Associate Professor
University of Chicago
My research interests are in how environmental, social, genetic, and biological factors interact to influence individual differences in socio-emotional and behavioral development in children and adolescents. My work is greatly influenced by the Bioecological Model developed by Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner, whom I was privileged to work with after college. This model has guided my research examining influences on youth socioemotional and problem behaviors at multiple levels of analysis, including neighborhood, school, peer, family, and individual psychosocial, biological, and genetic factors. My interdisciplinary background has led to successful management of projects in behavioral genetics, human-animal interactions, trauma and brain development, and health disparities. I have been a key collaborator in studies of cognitive and physical aging, burnout and compassion fatigue, and clinical sciences, among others. Through a combination of collaborative and independent studies I have begun to identify the underlying pathways through which social and environmental experiences “get under the skin” to affect behavior, which in turn can help us to better understand the nature of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health and health-related behaviors.
I am deeply committed to research education and mentorship. In our department, I teach basic statistical literacy and lead methodological journal clubs for adult psychiatry residents and child psychiatry fellows. I also direct the research program for residents and fellows, where they are expected to complete an empirical study prior to graduation. In addition, I serve as the scholarship mentor for several junior clinical faculty.
