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Brianna A. Baker, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the CUNY SPH Center for Innovation in Mental Health, has been selected as a 2025 Fellow in the NIH-funded Scientific Training in Addiction Research Techniques (START) program.
The highly competitive fellowship provides advanced training, mentorship, and analytical support for early-career scholars using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, the largest longitudinal studies of brain development and child health in the United States.
Through START funding, Dr. Baker will investigate Black girls’ brain health and mental health through a neuropsychoendocrinological framework, examining how stress, development, and family environments shape psychological well-being across the life course. Her work aims to generate developmentally informed evidence that can be translated into equitable, real-world interventions.
As a START Fellow, Dr. Baker will participate in a year-long hybrid training program that includes advanced coursework, personalized mentorship, and hands-on analytical support. The fellowship also includes two required in-person scientific convenings: a week-long intensive training conference at the University of Vermont focused on developmental brain science and research methods, and a multi-day national conference at the University of California, Los Angeles designed to foster collaboration, dissemination, and professional development among early-career scholars.
