Pioneering research on childhood stress, trauma, and resilience
COBRE Overview
Childhood stress and trauma can have a profound and long-lasting impact on physical and mental health throughout a person’s life.
The mechanisms by which early adversity affects health are still not fully understood, and such knowledge is needed to develop effective prevention and treatment approaches.
To address this critical gap in knowledge, we have established a Phase I Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) at The Miriam Hospital.
The STAR COBRE takes a comprehensive approach to stress and trauma exposures, and includes a focus on identifying proximal, ongoing mechanisms of risk and resilience through in-vivo ecological sampling and other approaches, in addition to historical adversities and traumas. In focusing on these mechanisms, we aim to rapidly discover novel and actionable intervention targets to improve health outcomes.
Our approach takes a life course perspective with an emphasis on experiences, mechanisms, and outcomes during sensitive periods of development, such as pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence.
Research conducted as part of the STAR COBRE includes large projects conducted by early-career Research Project Leaders (RPLs), and a pilot project program. The PLs receive co-mentorship from two leading NIH-funded scientists with complementary expertise to catalyze their transition to independent funding. Supported by funds from The Miriam Hospital, the pilot project program recruits additional early career investigators in the stress, trauma, and resilience field to obtain preliminary data for grant applications.
STAR COBRE Co-Directors, Dr. Audrey Tyrka and Dr. Laura Stroud
