The Lussier Lab

Our data analyst @tobylaw.bsky.social
presented at the 13th World Congress of
@DOHaD2025 this past week, sharing her work on #PAE and #depressivesymptoms

Proud to see our team represented on the global stage! 🌍✨

Today, the Lussier Lab joins in recognizing #WorldSuicidePreventionDay 💛

Work hard, sail hard ⛵️😎Our team enjoyed a sail in the harbor this summer. We are grateful for time to connect outside the lab!

Science is serious work, but so is ice cream 🍦
A well-deserved break for our team during this summer!

‪@alussier.bsky.social‬

#TBT 🌏 Reflecting on an incredible experience at the #WCPG conference in Singapore, where Dr. Lussier connected with colleagues. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge and explore new insights in psychiatric genetics 🧠

👏Huge congrats to our PI, Dr.@alussier.bsky.social, for his recent talk on “Epigenetic Signatures of Early-Life Adversity” with @mgbresearch.bsky.social‬ Precision Psychiatry, highlighting how #epigenetic changes shape #resilience 🧬

For more info, visit: thelussierlab.com

Meet Olivia, our new Summer Intern🎉

A rising senior @columbiauniversity.bsky.social studying Medical Humanities, she explores medicine through a literary & multicultural lens. This summer, she’ll dive into childhood #ACEs, #suicidality, & #epigenetics topics with the Lab.

Welcome aboard, Olivia!

Meet Charlotte, our new Summer Intern🎉

Charlotte studies Physiology & Biotech at Brown University
and is interested in the intersection of #epigenetics, #mentalhealth, & #environmentalexposures. This summer, she’ll dive into #PAE and epigenetic aging with the Lab.

Welcome aboard!

Closing the Care Divide: Policy Recommendations for Advancing Mental Health Treatment Engagement of Marginalized Racial and Ethnic Groups Read “Closing the Care Divide: Policy Recommendations for Advancing Mental Health Treatment Engagement of Marginalized Racial and Ethnic Groups” a Policy Brief from Volume 26, Issue 01 of the Journal ...

My first policy brief discussing the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act (H.R.3548/S.1700) and how it can help address health barriers!

Now, more than ever, is the time for scientists to continue to be LOUD about health equity & access.

www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/article_1038...

🎓🎉Congrats to our undergrad RA, Aileen Luo, on successfully defending her senior thesis!

We’re so proud of her rigor & commitment to research examining how early social adversity becomes biologically embedded to influence mental health.

#ThesisDefense #Harvard2025 #PsychSciSky #WomenInSTEM

📢 Call for Papers Special Issue: "Empirically-based Strategies to Address Issues of Diversity and Representation in Psychophysiology"
🔗Submission deadline: November 1st, 2025. Submit here: wiley.atyponrex.com/submission/d...

#AcademicSky
#MedSky
#PsychSciSky
#HigherEdSky
#neuroskyence

Sometimes the best part of the day isn’t in the data, it’s around the table. #TeamLunch 🍽️

Grateful for the chance to step back, laugh a little, and recharge with the people who make this work meaningful.

Here’s to the team, the mission, and the moments that keep us grounded. 💙

⚠️ Postpartum mental health concerns are among the most common complications after childbirth, but often go unrecognized.

As #MaternalMentalHealthMonth comes to an end, let’s remember: supporting mental well-being is essential to maternal health. #EndTheSilence

🎉 Congratulations to Dailin Luo, our graduate research assistant, on defending her Master's thesis, "Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Mental Health Outcomes" @alussier.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu

We're extremely proud of her hard work and impactful research! 👏📚 #ThesisDefense #ResearchExcellence

News Alert🚨 Our lab’s data analyst @tobylaw.bsky.social presented a poster at MGH's Celebration of Science this past week on how DNAm profile scores of time-varying childhood adversity predicts depressive symptoms.

#epigeneticsresearch #MentalHealthMatters #ChildhoodAdversity #PredictiveModeling

🎉Big news🎉

Our PI, Dr. Alex Lussier @alussier.bsky.social, has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Psychology at @massgenbrigham.bsky.social and @harvardmed.bsky.social 🧠

We're excited about what's ahead and extremely proud of his commitment to advancing #mentalhealth & #epigenetic research.

I love me some GxE work. Give this paper a serious look 👇👇👇. #PurdueSocGen

💡 Myth vs. Fact 💡

MYTH: Experiencing childhood adversity always leads to poor health
FACT: Not always! Biological systems, like gene expression, can adapt and promote resilience, but outcomes depend on support and coping strategies🧬

Learn how DNAm links adversity to health ➡️ tinyurl.com/nxa4rcfu

Childhood adversity, early school leaving and long-term social benefit use: a longitudinal mediation analysis of a population-wide study Childhood adversity has been associated with early school leaving and reliance on social benefits. In this mediation study, we disentangle the contrib…

Childhood adversity is linked to need for benefits in adulthood
Childhood adversity, early school leaving and long-term social benefit... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

<em>Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry</em> | ACAMH Pediatric Journal | Wiley Online Library Background Neurodevelopmental conditions are highly heritable. Recent studies have shown that genomic heritability estimates can be confounded by genetic effects mediated via the environment (indire.....

New paper by the MoBa PsychGen team on 'direct and indirect genetic effects on early neurodevelopmental traits', led by Laura Hegemann. Now published in JCPP @acamh.bsky.social

with @rosacheesman.bsky.social, @ludvigdb.bsky.social, @bstpourcain.bsky.social et al.

doi.org/10.1111/jcpp...

Signal boost that @neurolatine.bsky.social is on Bsky! We need to support these orgs now more than ever. Plus they’re cool scientists doing cool science things! 🧪 #NeuroSkyence

Not just the National Institutes of Health, now the National Science Foundation is put on pause.
Reminder: research is a multi-step process. Pausing the peer review panels by itself creates months of delay.

A picture of a grant award announcement for project titled “adverse childhood experiences and alcohol misuse in latino adolescents.”

Plz help me repost? 🙏🏽

I’m trying to connect with more health equity scholars & hope this thread can be useful. Feel free to describe your work👇🏽.

I’ve worked on topics related to “minority mental health” for 15 years (mostly Latines) & have an NIH grant to study how Latinx youth embody adversities.

🌟Meet our new Co-op student, Sarah Duval 🌟

She is an undergraduate at @northeasternu.bsky.social studying Mathematics and Psychology. She is interested in exploring how social, biological, and psychological factors, like #ACE, influence #epigenetics & #mentalhealth outcomes.

Welcome to the team!!

Today is #ThankYourMentorDay and we’re proud to honor our leader Dr. @alussier.bsky.social! His mentorship fuels our research and growth, and we’re grateful for his guidance #MentorshipMatters

Learn about our work: thelussierlab.com💡

🎤🧬 Our Master’s student, Dailin Luo, presented at Clinical Research Day hosted by @massgeneralbrigham.bsky.social exploring how PAE influences DNAm, connecting FASD to mental health outcomes. #Epigenetics #FASD #MentalHealthResearch

📣Meet Nicole, our #ClinicalResearchCoordinator
As a master’s student @bostoncollege.bsky.social SSW, she is passionate about how #ACEs shape development & is dedicated to empowering #marginalized youth through #resilience focused, community-driven solutions🌍

🌟We’re thrilled to have her on our team!

✨Our data analyst @tobylaw.bsky.social presented her research for Clinical Research Day @massgeneralbrigham.bsky.social exploring how #childhoodadversity impacts DNA methylation during critical periods, shaping depression risk and predicting #mentalhealth outcomes🧬 #Epigenetics

Almost 3 years ago, I was awarded a K08 grant to learn about DNA methylation & incorporate it into my research. My first DNAm paper is out. We studied how religion & spirituality affect DNAm among Latinos to better understand the biological impact of resilience factors (as opposed to stress). #pubs