Laurel Gabard-Durnam is the director of PINE Lab and an assistant professor of psychology at Northeastern University. She received a BA in Neurobiology from Harvard University and a PhD in Psychology from Columbia University. Prior to starting PINE Lab, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Gabard-Durnam is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist whose research explores how different environments and neuroplasticity interact to shape brain and behavior development. She is interested in how typical environment-neuroplasticity interactions support healthy development, as well as how adverse environments or atypical neuroplasticity processes in neurodevelopmental disorders impact development. Using this framework, she aims to understand the developmental mechanisms driving healthy, resilient, or maladaptive outcomes across individuals. She works across, and compares, multiple socioemotional domains, including perception, language, and emotion regulation.
Dr. Gabard-Durnam’s research program has been supported by funding from The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Leap Program, and the Autism Science Foundation.
Publications
In The News
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Research
Northeastern research finds infant anesthesia may speed up brain development
Northeastern research from Assistant Professor Laurel Gabard-Durnam finds babies exposed to general anesthesia in very early infancy showed accelerated brain development. -
Research
Infant brains are like sponges. Predictable caregivers can make them even spongier, new Northeastern research finds
Northeastern researchers discovered new insights about how early childhood development unfolds, adding to a burgeoning literature focused on how caregivers shape their children — and the plasticity of the infant brain. -
Announcing the 2024 TIER 1 Award Recipients
Twenty-nine interdisciplinary teams—ten include College of Science faculty members—have been selected to receive 2024 TIER 1 Awards, three of which are Mentored Awards. The TIER 1 Seed Grant/Proof of Concept Awards Program is supported by the colleges and the Senior Vice Provost for Research. This competitive program encourages individual faculty members to form multidisciplinary teams […]