Rate My Professor Briana Woods-Jaeger

Briana Woods-Jaeger, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. She received her BA in Psychology from Duke University in 2002, MS in Child Clinical Psychology in 2006, and PhD in Child Clinical Psychology in 2010 from the University of Washington, where her dissertation examined social and emotional predictors of alcohol-related problems among diverse adolescents. She completed post-doctoral training as a W.K. Kellogg Health Scholar at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health from 2010 to 2012. Her professional career includes Assistant Professor positions at the University of Iowa College of Public Health (2012-2014) and Children's Mercy and University of Missouri-Kansas City Department of Pediatrics (2014-2018), followed by Assistant Professor at Emory (2018-2022), promotion to Associate Professor in 2022, and Vice Chair since 2023. A licensed clinical psychologist, she founded and directs the THRIVE Research Lab, focusing on community-centered participatory research.

Woods-Jaeger's research centers on partnering with communities to prevent adverse childhood experiences, support systems in addressing needs of trauma-exposed youth and families, and enhance access to culturally responsive evidence-based psychological interventions, with emphasis on Black youth facing community violence, racial trauma, and chronic stress. She leads initiatives like the Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) project, HEART workshops on racial trauma, and CDC-funded studies evaluating participatory action research and economic policies to prevent violence. Principal investigator on grants exceeding $10 million from CDC, PCORI, William T. Grant Foundation, and others, her contributions advance trauma-informed care and health equity. Notable awards include Emory's Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2021), Faculty Leadership Award and Departmental Teaching Award (both 2025), Mentoring Achievement Award from Children’s Mercy (2018), and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Loan Repayment Award (2014-2016). Key publications encompass "Trauma histories among justice-involved youth: Findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network" (2013), "Promoting resilience: Breaking the intergenerational cycle of adverse childhood experiences" (2018), and "Mitigating Negative Consequences of Community Violence Exposure: Perspectives From African American Youth" (2019).