Why CIRCA?
Childhood adversity is a powerful predictor of mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan. Yet the biological, behavioral, and psychosocial pathways linking early adversity to later disease risk remain incompletely understood—particularly in populations and regions that experience the greatest burden.
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CIRCA was created to address this gap by supporting rigorous, interdisciplinary science while building a sustainable research workforce and shared infrastructure.
CIRCA is an NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence focused on the biology of childhood adversity and resilience. We integrate biological and behavioral science in measuring risk and resilience in the real-world to understand how early experiences shape health across the life course.​
Located in Oklahoma, CIRCA also plays a critical role in strengthening biomedical research capacity in a state with high need and historically limited NIH investment.
What We Do
Discover Biological, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Mechanisms
We study immune, neuroendocrine, and molecular pathways, health behaviors, and psychosocial patterns through which childhood adversity influences development, physiology, and long-term health.
Meaningful Research Design
Our research spans cross-sectional to longitudinal designs and combines biological, behavioral, and psychosocial measures with qualitative research, validated questionnaires and repeated assessments using in-person, remote, and hybrid approaches. We emphasize participant engagement and retention over time. ​
Build Research Capacity
Through shared cores, pilot and project funding, mentorship, and grant development support, CIRCA strengthens biomedical research at the OSU Center for Health Sciences campus.
Impact & Translation
From Discovery to Impact
CIRCA’s research is designed to move beyond discovery toward meaningful impact. By linking biological mechanisms with longitudinal behavioral and psychosocial human data measured in the lab and the real-world, CIRCA generates knowledge that can inform prevention strategies, systems of care, and policy-relevant decision making.
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Rather than focusing on single outcomes or interventions, CIRCA emphasizes understanding when, how, and for whom adversity-related risk emerges. Together, this creates a scientific foundation for more effective solutions.
Why Childhood Adversity Matters
Childhood adversity is a powerful and well-established determinant of health across the lifespan. Exposure to early-life stress and adversity is associated with increased risk for mental health disorders, cardiometabolic disease, immune dysregulation, and premature mortality.
These associations are not limited to individual outcomes; they shape population health patterns and contribute to persistent health disparities. CIRCA’s work addresses a critical gap by translating robust epidemiologic associations into biologically grounded understanding that can guide prevention and systems-level solutions.
Translating Science into Systems
CIRCA’s approach to translation is grounded in mechanism and context. Findings from biological and longitudinal research inform how systems identify risk, time interventions, and support resilience across a variety of settings including healthcare, education, or community settings.
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By integrating scalable measurement with biological insight, CIRCA supports translation that is responsible, evidence-based, and attentive to real-world complexity, rather than premature or one-size-fits-all solutions.
Building Capacity for Sustainable Impact
Impact at CIRCA extends beyond individual studies. By strengthening research infrastructure, workforce development, and interdisciplinary collaboration in an under-resourced state, CIRCA contributes to a more equitable biomedical research ecosystem.
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This capacity-building model ensures that advances in the science of childhood adversity are not only generated, but sustained byexpanding who participates in research, who leads it, and who ultimately benefits from it.