Laura R. Stroud, PhD

Principal Investigator

Dr. Stroud serves as Director and Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital. She serves as Director and Principal Investigator of the COBRE Center for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) and Founding Director of the Maternal-Infant Studies Laboratory and the Child and Adolescent Stress Laboratory at The Miriam Hospital. Dr. Stroud is a dedicated mentor and co-directs the STAR T32, a postdoctoral fellowship program focused on the impact of childhood stress, trauma, and resilience across the lifespan, and received the 2023 Faculty Mentoring Award from the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Dr. Stroud’s research focuses on biobehavioral mechanisms of mood and addictive disorders. Her work involves a transdisciplinary, developmental framework incorporating both neurobiological and behavioral markers of risk and a focus on novel neurobehavioral and stress response paradigms. Her work focuses on two sensitive periods of development: fetal-infant transition and the adolescent/pubertal transition. Within the fetal-infant period, Dr. Stroud's work has focused on novel ultrasound measures of fetal development and biological  pathways through which effects of maternal substance use and depression are transmitted to the fetus and infant. She has also developed a new line of research focused on the impact of marijuana use and novel tobacco products (hookah, electronic cigarettes) on pregnant mothers and infants. Within the adolescent period, Dr. Stroud’s work has focused on novel neural and neuroendocrine biomarkers of risk for adolescent depression.

​Dr. Stroud has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2001. She has also been the recipient of three NARSAD awards from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and funding from the National Science Foundation, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Robert Wood Johnson foundation. Dr. Stroud served as a Contributing Author on the 2016 Surgeon General Report, E-Cigarette Use in Youth and Young Adults. She also served as Associate Editor for Nicotine and Tobacco Research and has been the recipient of the Bruce Selya Research Excellence Award from Lifespan Hospitals and the Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

​Dr. Laura Stroud has an AB in Human Biology from Stanford University, and received a PhD in Psychology from Yale University in 1999. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Brown in 2001, then joined the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown. Since 2013, Dr. Stroud has also held a secondary appointment in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health at Brown. 

Nicole Belanger, PhD

Dr. Belanger is a Developmental Psychologist and the Clinical Research Supervisor of the lab. She oversees all aspects of lab operations, including study coordination, regulatory compliance, data management, and team development. With over a decade of experience in behavioral health and developmental science, Dr. Belanger enjoys building supportive, well-organized teams and creating systems that make complex research run smoothly.

Katelyn Borba, BA

Katelyn Borba is a Research Center Manager and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine and conducts infant sessions. Katelyn received her B.A. in Psychology from Providence College.

Janet O. Joseph

Janet O. Joseph is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Pathobiology Graduate Program at Brown University, working under Dr. Laura Stroud and Dr. Patrycja Dubielecka. Her research focuses on the impact of chemical and biological stressors on transcriptomic markers of the placenta, specifically targeting inflammatory and neuroinflammatory markers critical for a successful immunological response during pregnancy. Janet holds a background in microbiology, molecular and cellular biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as experience in infectious diseases, neurology, and psychiatry from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH. She is dedicated to utilizing interdisciplinary methods to address biological questions and is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellowship. Janet prioritizes mentorship and the inclusion of underrepresented minority (URM) scientists in STEM. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, watching sci-fi, and pretending to be a DJ.

Melissa Nevarez-Brewster, PhD

Dr. Melissa Nevarez-Brewster is a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral research fellow at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where she works with Dr. Laura Stroud. Dr. Nevarez-Brewster completed her PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Denver, where she was mentored by Elysia Poggi Davis, PhD. Dr. Nevarez-Brewster’s work investigates how early life experiences, especially during the prenatal period, shape maternal, fetal, and child health. She is particularly interested in prenatal maternal sleep and circadian health, and the role they play in the health and development of mothers and their children.

Before earning her doctorate, Dr. Nevarez-Brewster received a BS in psychology and human development and family studies from the University of Utah, with a minor in pediatric clinical research and a certificate in quantitative data analysis. Her academic experience and training enable her to study the impact of poor prenatal maternal sleep and other perinatal experiences on maternal and child well-being, with the goal of improving multigenerational health.

Destiny Printz Pereira, PhD

Dr. Printz Pereira is a STAR T32 postdoctoral research fellow at The Miriam Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Printz Pereira’s research aims to promote wellbeing in children and families exposed to chronic and traumatic stress, in order to reduce the risk of psychopathology and adverse physical health across the lifespan. Her research primarily focuses on families living in urban, low-income contexts, from pregnancy to prekindergarten. She utilizes translational methods to investigate intergenerational, transdiagnostic, and biopsychosocial mechanisms of risk and resilience. Her research advances trauma-related assessment and treatment by prioritizing accessibility, broad applicability and long-term sustainability. Dr. Printz Pereira earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Greater Hartford Clinical Psychology Consortium at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System and UConn Health’s Parenting Program and Child Outpatient Clinic.

Cameron R. Wiley, PhD

Dr. Cameron R. Wiley is a 1st-year Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Pediatrics as a part of the T32 Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Pediatric Respiratory, Cardiovascular, and Sleep Health. He received his Ph.D. in Psychological Science (Health concentration) from UC Irvine in 2024, and most recently served as a Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2024-2026. As a research scientist with an academic background that encompasses multiple fields (e.g., psychology, biomedicine, epidemiology), Dr. Wiley’s program of research examines: 1) how the regulation of emotion and stress influences cardiovascular functioning and health across the life course, 2) the physiological mechanisms that facilitate this connection, 3) how these psychophysiological interactions differ across sociocultural contexts to contribute to cardiovascular health disparities, and 4) the roles of positive psychological and behavioral factors in mitigating these disparities. Utilizing a wide range of samples and scientific approaches, his overall research aim is to elucidate what psychosocial factors and biological pathways should be targeted to alleviate the persistent health burdens of underrepresented groups; ultimately informing the development of comprehensive intervention strategies and health policies.

Julia Brekke-Riedl, MD, PhD

Dr. Brekke-Riedl is a psychiatry resident physician in the R25 research program in Dr. Laura Stroud's BAMBAM lab. She recently completed her MD and PhD degrees at the University of Minnesota in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) with a research focus in immunology. Dr. Brekke-Riedl has published 10+ publications and has presented her work at national and international conferences, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Her research in the BAMBAM lab will focus on maternal depression outcomes, with special interest in immunological markers. Additionally, she enjoys medical storytelling and prose writing, publishing "Role Reversal" in Jama Piece of My Mind.

Natasha Sokol, ScD

Dr. Sokol is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School, and Research Scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital. Dr. Sokol earned her doctoral degree in social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed a NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at the Brown School of Public Health.

Dr. Sokol’s research focuses on modifiable factors contributing to inequities in the consequences associated with substance use across the life course and intergenerationally, as well as on topics related to reproductive justice. She is interested in parental health and concepts of stress, particularly related to the social and societal factors that drive both. Her current research focuses on relationships between discrimination, material deprivation, stress and substance use in early motherhood.

LG Ward, PhD

Dr. Ward is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and a Research Scientist the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine and the Women's Medicine Collaborative of The Miriam Hospital. Dr. Ward is a clinician and researcher with specialties in perinatal mental health and Integrated Behavioral Health. Her current research is funded by a Career Development Award (K23) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and is focused on the development and implementation of a toolkit to promote trauma-informed care in obstetrics.

Dr. LG Ward received a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and completed her psychology internship and NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in Adolescent/Young Adult Biobehavioral HIV at in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School.

Sharon Lee, PhD

Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a Research Scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital. Dr. Lee's research centers on biobehavioral mechanisms linking stress with adverse physical health outcomes, with a focus on cardiovascular disease risk, and mind-body interventions that disrupt this linkage. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and several professional organizations.

She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of General Internal Medicine and the Behavior Change Lead for the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) Program Planning Committee, as well as on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association Southern New England. Dr. Lee is also a licensed clinical psychologist. She has cared for patients in primary care, Veterans Affairs medical centers, psychiatric hospitals, and specialties within behavioral medicine including cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, oncology, organ transplant, palliative care, sleep medicine, and weight loss.

Dr. Lee earned a BA in psychology from the University of Southern California, MA in psychology from Columbia University, and MS and PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. Subsequently, Dr. Lee completed both her Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine clinical internship and Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Laura Laumann, PhD

Dr. Laumann is a research scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Laumann is a licensed psychologist with speciality training in behavioral medicine and pain psychology. Her program of research centers on biobehavioral mechanisms underlying the relationship between stress and health and the role of health behaviors (e.g., physical activity, sleep, and substance use) in mitigating and exacerbating risk for chronic health conditions. She has a specific line of research focused on the biobehavioral mechanisms and behavioral treatment of chronic pain.

Dr. Laumann received a BA in psychology and Spanish from the University of Virginia and a MS in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology and graduate certificates in Quantitative Research Methods and Health Psychology at the University of Connecticut.  She completed her psychology internship and NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine at Brown. 

Gina Erato Garza, PhD

Dr. Garza is a research scientist at the Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital and a Clinical Instructor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She joined CBPM as an NIH T32 postdoctoral fellow and also completed her clinical psychology residency at Brown. Dr. Erato Garza earned her PhD in clinical psychology at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Erato Garza is also a licensed clinical psychologist and is certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International.

Her research centers on perinatal health and the unique biological (e.g., sleep) and psychosocial factors (e.g., social support, ACEs) that impact the transition to parenthood. Given these collective experiences, she strives to take a developmental psychopathology approach in her research to consider the impact of early life stress on the development and maintenance of perinatal outcomes and the intergenerational transmission of stress.

Carmen Marsit, PhD

Dr. Marsit is Rollins Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research Strategy at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Dr. Marsit's research is focused broadly on understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for mediating the impact of the environment in human disease, utilizing laboratory studies of a variety of molecular alterations through –omics technologies. His research has been applied to studies of cancer, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and common and rare conditions of childhood, including obesity, growth, and behavioral disorders. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in children's environmental health and environmental impacts on the placenta. Dr. Marsit's group has significant expertise in environmental epigenomics, the impact of the environment on mechanisms controlling the fundamental cellular process of gene expression control, and how alterations or variations to these features impact health and disease. His research utilizes the exposome framework, and considers the chemical, physical, psychosocial, and structural factors across the lifetime, the body's response to those exposures, and their impacts on health. The overarching goal of this work is to both provide important biologic and mechanistic evidence to support policies related to the control of environmental contaminants and to provide insights into novel prevention and intervention strategies.

Todd Everson, PhD

Dr. Everson is an Associate Professor at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Dr. Everson's research is focused on how early-life experiences and exposures shape underlying biological regulatory programs (the epigenome and transcriptome) and whether the remodeling of those patterns may have long term influences on health. Dr. Everson has considerable experience with epigenome-wide association studies and transcriptomic analyses of prenatal exposures and birth outcomes. He is also involved in large multi-cohort studies such as the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium, which are aimed at fostering collaborations between existing studies to examine how early life environmental factors and epigenomic variations contribute to children's health. 

Michelle Andal

Michelle is a junior at Brown University studying Applied Math-Biology. She is an aspiring physician passionate about improving access to maternal healthcare and reliable patient information in Women’s health. During her free time, she also enjoys dancing, running, and trying new food spots around Providence.

Raine Fung

Raine is a sophomore at Brown University studying Biology on the Physiology and Biotechnology track. She is interested in understanding human behavior and how the human body works. As an aspiring physician, she is passionate about making healthcare more equitable, reducing stigma around mental health, and advancing reproductive health. During her free time, Raine enjoys reading, traveling, and trying new restaurants around Providence. 

Kaya Gehlbach

Kaya is a sophomore at Brown University planning to study Philosophy. She is also part of the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) and is thus on a pre-medical track. Her research interests lie in maternal health, reproductive justice, social determinants of health, and related health policy. As an aspiring OB-GYN, she has a special interest in pregnancy and pregnancy complications, particularly stillbirth. In her free time, Kaya enjoys hiking, playing board/card games, doing recreational sports, and trying new desserts.