Depression is one of the most common mental health problems and children who have a mother with depression are at elevated risk for developing depression themselves.

We are interested in identifying early signs of depressive symptoms in children with depressed mothers and identifying potential mechanisms through which this risk is transmitted.

We recently began an NIH funded study - led by Dr. Katie Burkhouse -aimed at understanding the brain functioning of teens whose mothers have experienced depression. This group is at increased risk of developing depression themselves and we are interested in understanding brain responses to negative emotions in those who begin to develop depression and those who do not.