About Us

About the Mass General Early Brain Development Initiative

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With support from Mass General Hospital and the departments of Psychiatry, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Medicine, we launched the Early Brain Development Initiative in 2019 in an ambitious, multi-pronged effort to prevent mental and neurological illnesses in young people.

Meet our team

Mental and neurological disorders comprise the leading cause of disability in young people, starting at age 5.  Risk for these disorders is determined by an interplay of genetic and environmental factors, and reflect subtle alterations in brain development that can begin before birth.

Our research is among the first to suggest that prenatal interventions can offer neuroprotective effects on brain development.

This work provides proof-of-concept for our ongoing studies, which tackle the roots of mental illness.

Our ongoing studies

The goal of the Early Brain Development Initiative is to discover, develop, and implement new early-life interventions that reduce risk for mental and neurological disorders in young people.