Rate My Professor Alexandra Rodman

Alexandra Rodman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health at Northeastern University, where she directs the Social Development and Wellbeing Lab. She earned a BA in Clinical Psychology from Tufts University, a PhD in Psychology (Clinical Science) from Harvard University, completed a clinical internship at the Boston VA Hospital rotating through the General Mental Health Clinic and Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program, and held an NIMH K99/R00-funded postdoctoral fellowship in the Stress and Development Lab led by Professor Kate McLaughlin at Harvard University. A licensed clinical psychologist, Rodman transitioned from her postdoctoral position at Harvard to her current faculty role at Northeastern University starting in 2023.

Her interdisciplinary research bridges developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical science, centering on the social experiences of adolescents and how they interact with cognitive and brain development to heighten risks for mental health problems during this period. Rodman examines distinctions in adolescent social processing and behavior from those in children and adults, the extent to which these contribute to psychopathology vulnerability, and the role of social factors in fostering resilience amid stress. Her lab employs advanced quantitative methods, experimental and observational paradigms, novel behavioral tasks, fMRI neuroimaging, and digital phenotyping of real-world behavior through mobile phones and wearables to advance translational clinical research aimed at enhancing adolescent wellbeing. This work has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, John Templeton Foundation, and American Psychological Foundation. Key publications include "Mechanisms linking childhood trauma exposure and psychopathology: A transdiagnostic model of risk and resilience" (BMC Medicine, 2020), "Neurobiological markers of resilience to depression following childhood maltreatment: The role of neural circuits supporting the cognitive control of emotion" (Biological Psychiatry, 2019), "Promoting youth mental health during COVID-19: A longitudinal study spanning pre- and post-pandemic" (PLOS ONE, 2021), "Reduced hippocampal and amygdala volume as a mechanism underlying stress sensitization to depression following childhood trauma" (Depression and Anxiety, 2020), and "Social experiences and youth psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study" (Development and Psychopathology, 2022).