Stroud To Lecture on Stress, Adversity and Resilience

Dr. Laura Stroud

Dr. Laura Stroud of Alpert Medical School at Brown University and the Miriam Hospital will deliver a talk, “From the Mouths of Babes: What Can Research on Babies, Moms, Stress, and Substance Use Tell Us About Resilience?” on Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 2 to 3:15 p.m. ET. This virtual presentation is the 2022 Stephen E. Straus Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Complementary Therapies, sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). To register, visit https://bit.ly/StroudLecture.

Stroud is professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Alpert Medical School and director and senior research scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine of The Miriam Hospital. 

Stress and adversity during early development can exert a profound and persistent imprint on our physiology, brain and health across the lifespan. This can lead to long-term health outcomes such as substance use, depression, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Stress and adversity may be transmitted from one generation to the next, but protective experiences may prevent or mitigate these effects. 

Stroud will provide examples of findings from her laboratory and of ongoing studies at the COBRE Center for Stress, Trauma and Resilience. Topics of focus include intergenerational transmission of maternal experiences and behaviors (particularly substance use) in fetuses and babies; elucidation of pathways and interventions to foster resilience; intervention during sensitive periods of development; and the broader “exposome.” The need to build resilience and mitigate health inequities at structural and community levels will also be discussed. 

This annual lecture honors NCCIH founding director Straus and is supported by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health with a generous gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation.