We collaborate across the department’s educational programs and clinical services, as well as with other NYU Langone departments and institutes, to incorporate our research findings into health policies and clinical practice.

Our department’s research interests include basic neuroscience and neural development; disease origins and the role of early environmental exposures; and large-scale, community-based developmental epidemiology.

Our investigators develop evidence-based clinical, preventive, and service interventions to improve child mental health services and access to care, with a focus on seven main areas.

• Digital innovation: We develop digital health apps and data analytics tools to engage families with advancing science related to child development and mental health.
• Neurodevelopment and autism spectrum disorders: We study the role of brain structure and function in child and adolescent cognition, emotion, and behavior.
• Early childhood mental health: We study social–emotional and behavioral changes that affect very young children and their families, including attachment difficulties, separation worries, temper tantrums, irritability, nightmares, and picky eating.
• Emotion and brain studies: We explore the neuroscience of emotions and how they influence behavior.
• Implementation science: We study how to improve the implementation of effective mental health treatments and services in systems, including schools, primary care offices, child welfare settings, and juvenile justice settings, that serve children, adolescents, and their families.
• Stress, trauma, and resilience: We examine the impact of adverse events on behavior and development.
• Anxiety and mood disorders: We conduct research studies to learn how to reduce the impact of these conditions on youth.

Our research faculty regularly publish studies in peer-reviewed journals and present at national and international scientific conferences on topics in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry.