The Schaefer Lab
The Schaefer Lab
Our work focuses on identifying environmental determinants of brain and mental health and understanding how they exert their effects, with the ultimate goal of informing intervention and prevention efforts.
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Who We Are
We are a scientific team seeking to understand the relationship between environmental exposures and brain and mental health, which we measure using clinical interviews, cognitive assessments, and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
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What We Do
Our work primarily analyzes data from long-running, observational cohort studies, borrowing methods from neuropsychology, psychiatric epidemiology, and behavioral genetics. The goal of this research is to generate actionable insights for interventionists, policymakers, and consumers.
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Read Our Work
Our publications cover environmental factors ranging from environmental toxicants to psychosocial stressors to substance use. We have also written about the surprisingly high prevalence of mental health problems and what this means for healthcare, clinical psychology, and society.