FRIDAY, APRIL 10
RESILIENCE IN ACTION:
FINDINGS FROM THE CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH ON CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY (CIRCA)
Introduction and Welcome
JULIE CROFF, PHD, MPH
Dr. Julie Croff is a Professor at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and a nationally recognized leader in substance use research, with a focus on prenatal exposures and early life adversity. She is Principal Investigator of the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Adversity (CIRCA) and serves as the contact PI for the Oklahoma site of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study. Dr. Croff has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2014 and has secured more than $32.5 million in extramural funding. Her research spans observational studies, clinical trials, and implementation science to advance evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery systems, with a focus on real-world impact across rural and underserved communities. She has contributed to state-level policy and legal efforts addressing substance use and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB). She previously served as President of the AAHB and as a Governing Councilor of the American Public Health Association (APHA), contributing to national efforts to advance public health research and practice.
"Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity and Resilience"
The emerging field of human social genomics has revealed how social connection, stress, purpose, and culture shape the activity of the human genome in ways that influence health and aging. It also uncovers the molecular roots of resilience and well-being, offering a biologically grounded view of what it means to thrive. In a dawning era of molecular self-awareness, these insights show how we can consciously reshape the lives we lead—our relationships, habits, and environments—to promote molecular well-being, health, and vitality across the lifespan.
Steven  Cole  is a Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.  His research utilizes molecular genetics and computational bioinformatics to analyze the pathways by which psychosocial factors influence the activity of the human genome, as well as viral and cancer genomes.  He pioneered the field of human social genomics, and discovered the "Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity" that mediates health disparities via neural regulation of inflammatory and antiviral genes. 
STEVE COLE, PHD
"Early Adversity and Adult Protective Experiences: Shaping Adaptive Immunity Across the Lifespan"
Childhood adversity can leave lasting effects on immune function, but supportive and health-promoting experiences in adulthood may help offset those impacts. In this talk, I present evidence that higher exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody responses, and that this relationship is partially mitigated by protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs) in adulthood. These findings suggest that the biological consequences of early adversity are not fixed and may be modifiable through strengthening social connection, psychological well-being, and healthy behaviors.
BART FORD, PHD
Dr. Bart Ford is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, where he directs the Behavioral Immunology Lab of Tulsa (BILT). His research focuses on psychoneuroimmunology and the biological embedding of childhood adversity, with particular emphasis on how stress and protective experiences shape immune gene expression and adaptive immune function. Using molecular immunology approaches including transcriptomics and functional immune assays, his work examines how social environments influence health across the lifespan. Dr. Ford’s research aims to identify modifiable psychosocial pathways that promote resilience and improve long-term immune health.
"Early Life Stress and Environmental Mitigation Differentially Program Cortical Neurobiology"
The presentation will focus on how early life stress and favorable environmental factors trigger neuroadaptations in the medial prefrontal cortex of adolescent rodents, providing insights into the biological embedding of resilience or susceptibility.
SWARUP MITRA, PHD
 Dr. Swarup Mitra is an Assistant Professor at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, where he studies the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress and opioid use. 
"Reflections on CIRCA Phase 1 and 2"
AMANDA MORRIS, PHD
Dr. Amanda Sheffield Morris is a Regents Professor and the George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Applied Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Morris is a developmental scientist with research interests in parenting, socio-emotional development, early life adversity, and risk and resilience, with over 150 scholarly publications. With Dr. Jennifer Hays-Grudo she is co-author of Adverse and Protective Childhood Experiences: A Developmental Perspective and Raising a Resilient Child in a World of Adversity: Effective Parenting for Every Family, both published by the American Psychological Association.
She is past editor in chief for the Journal of Research on Adolescence and is a founding editor and on the editorial board of Adversity and Resilience Science: Research and Practice published by Springer/Nature. She is an MPI for the Oklahoma site of the NIH-funded HEALlthy Brain Child Development (HBCD) national study, and was a Co-Investigator for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study for seven years.
"Integrative Research on Adverse and Protective Childhood Experiences"
JENNIFER HAYS-GRUDO, PHD
Dr. Jennifer Hays-Grudo was the Principal Investigator of CIRCA and a Regents Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at OSU Center for Health Sciences. She was also one of the principal investigators of the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD), the NIH-funded study that will follow pregnant women and their children for 10 years to investigate the effects of prenatal substance exposure on children's development.
Dr. Hays-Grudo is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Adversity and Resilience Science, published by Springer/Nature. She is the co-author of Adverse and Protective Childhood Experiences: A Developmental Perspective, published in 2020 by the American Psychological Association, and Raising a Resilient Child in a World of Adversity, published by APA's Life Tools Books in 2023.
"Parenting Begins before Birth: 2Gen Impact of Adversity and Resilience in the Prenatal Period"
Grounded in DOHaD science, this presentation will review research demonstrating the impact of pregnant women’s experiences, including those from her childhood, affecting the next generation prior to postnatal rearing experiences. Dr. Monk will demonstrate how this new knowledge can be leveraged to transform the perinatal care ecosystem for 2Gen impact.  
CATHERINE MONK, PHD
Catherine Monk, PhD, is the Diana Vagelos Professor of Women’s Mental Health and Chief, Division of Women’s Mental Health, in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Monk, a practicing clinical psychologist, directs Women’s Mental Health @Ob/Gyn, an integrated clinical service within Ob/Gyn. She and collaborators recently launched the research-to-practice Center for the Transition to Parenthood to enhance the perinatal ecosystem for 2Gen impact. Dr. Monk’s DOHaD and mental health research have been continuously funded by the National Institute of Health since 2000 as well as by numerous foundations including the Bezos Family Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the March of Dimes.
"Intergenerational Risk and Resilience"
Over half of women experience insomnia-related symptoms during the perinatal period, yet these patterns of sleep disruption are not homogeneous; while some sleep-problems are persistent across the perinatal period, others improve over time, newly emerge postpartum, or resolve following childbirth. These patterns may reflect broader risk or resilience for both mothers and infants given links between poor sleep, childhood adversity, heightened depression and anxiety, impaired emotion regulation, and altered stress reactivity. This presentation will report on findings from the Epigenetics of Mother-Baby Reactivity and Childhood Experiences (EMBRACE) study, showing that persistent insomnia is associated with more significant risks for maternal and infant functioning.
LUCIA CICIOLLA, PHD
Dr. Ciciolla is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Psychology Department at Oklahoma State University. Her research focuses on the longitudinal and intergenerational effects that early childhood adversity has on maternal and infant health and well-being, including perinatal mental health, adverse birth outcomes, stress-related physiology, and infant health and social-emotional development. By understanding processes of risk and resilience for infant and maternal health within the perinatal context, she hopes to identify novel, precise, and high impact targets for intervention, inform maternal and child health practice and policy, and improve long-term developmental outcomes.
"Bonding Following Adversity"
The HATCH Project (Holistic Assessment of Tulsa Children’s Health) followed women from their first prenatal visit through nearly two years postpartum, enabling a longitudinal examination of the biopsychosocial pathways from maternal childhood adversity to maternal and child postpartum outcomes. This presentation examines risks for disruptions in maternal-infant bonding and factors that were found to promote bonding despite high levels of adversity and social stress among HATCH Project participants.
KARINA SHREFFLER, PHD
Dr. Karina Shreffler is a social demographer who studies the psychosocial consequences of social stressors such as trauma exposure and childhood adversity for perinatal and reproductive health, mental health, and health behaviors. She has experience analyzing large, national data and conducting community-based research with vulnerable populations including adolescents and pregnant women from rural and medically underserved communities. She is currently PI of a NICHD-funded Center of Excellence on Maternal Health Research.
"Leveraging the Parent-Teen Relationship to Build Resilience Through Neurofeedback"
This talk will report findings from Project REY (Regulation of Emotions in Youth), which used dyadic fMRI neurofeedback to support parents in talking with their adolescents about difficult emotional situations.
KARA KERR, PHD
Dr. Kerr is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at OSU and Associate Director of Training at the OSU Biomedical Imaging Center. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from The University of Tulsa. Dr. Kerr’s research examines interactions between the social environment and neurobiology that contribute to risk and resilience in adolescent internalizing disorders. Her recent work focuses on understanding the neurocircuitry underlying the parent-adolescent relationship and developing noninvasive, neuromodulatory interventions for adolescent internalizing symptoms. 
"Building a Multidimensional Dataset on Adversity and Resilience: The CIRCA Baseline"
This presentation introduces the CIRCA Baseline Dataset, a multidimensional dataset designed to examine how adversity and protective experiences shape health and functioning across psychological, social, and biological systems. We present early findings demonstrating cross-domain patterns of risk and resilience and describe ongoing efforts to expand the dataset through remote data collection and collaborative research.
JENS JESPERSEN, PHD
Dr. Jespersen is a Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the OSU Center for Health Sciences and has been a member of the research team at CIRCA since July 2022. He earned his doctorate in Human Development and Family Science from OSU, with an emphasis in infant mental health. His research focuses on parenting, exploring how early relationships and experiences shape social and emotional development in infants and young children, and how protective experiences support child and family functioning in the context of early adversity. He is a mixed-methods researcher, applying both quantitative and qualitative analyses to assess parenting, health, and education programs across Oklahoma.
JENNIFER WATROUS, M.S.
Jennifer N.H. Watrous, M.S., is a 4th-year doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University under Dr. Amanda Morris. Her previous work has examined the association of Protective and Compensatory Experiences (PACEs) in adolescent mental health, executive function, and prosocial behavior. Her dissertation examines childhood experiences that shape the biological stress response system and mental health symptoms.