Carolyn M. Mazure PhD

Professor of Psychiatry and of Psychology; Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs; Director, Women's Health Research at Yale

Biographical Info

Carolyn M. Mazure is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Yale School of Medicine. She created and directs Yale’s interdisciplinary research center on health and gender - Women’s Health Research at Yale.

Dr. Mazure’s contributions in women’s health began with her own internationally recognized research in the field of depression. Focusing on the prominent gender differences in this disorder, Dr. Mazure developed new approaches for examining risk factors for depression, and was the first to demonstrate how stress is a more potent pathway to depression in women than men.

Understanding the value of uncovering gender differences in the field of depression, combined with recognizing that such data are sorely lacking across many fields of biomedical research, Dr. Mazure designed and launched Women’s Health Research at Yale. Since its inception in 1998, Women's Health Research at Yale has initiated new studies designed to answer important health questions for women, provided health data of practical benefit to the community, built new research collaborations across the nation, and launched new investigators into careers dedicated to studying gender-specific aspects of health.

Since Women’s Health Research at Yale was founded in 1998, it has provided more than $4.4 million in “seed” money to fund investigators studying some of the most important health concerns of women today, including breast cancer and ovarian cancer, depression, osteoporosis and smoking cessation. These investigators have used the results of their studies to obtain nearly $50 million of external grants to continue their research – a testament to the strength of their work.

Currently, Dr, Mazure also is the Scientific Director for Yale’s Specialized Center of Research on gender-specific factors associated with stress and cocaine addiction, a Principal Investigator within Yale’s Consortium on Stress, Self-Control and Addiction – each of which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and an Investigator on a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-funded study of post-deployment readjustment of women combat veterans to civilian life. In addition, Dr. Mazure is training the next generation of scientists as the Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded Junior Faculty Training Grant in Women’s Health Research.

Her awards for innovations in women’s health research include the Marion Spencer Fay Award from the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership, the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from the National Organization for Women, and the Distinguished Leadership Award for Scholarship from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Mazure has testified to the U.S. Congress on the importance of women’s health research, served on the planning committee for the first White House Conference on Mental Health, and was a Public Health Policy Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Dr. Mazure has responsibility for developing and interpreting faculty policies, and overseeing the academic appointments and promotions process at Yale Medical School.

International Activity

• Centres for Research Development in Gender, Mental Health and Addictions, Reviewer
  Canada (2008 - 2008)
  
• The Centre for Research in Women's Health, External Reviewer
  Ontario, Canada (2006 - 2006)
  
• Life Stress and Cognitive Style in the Prediction of Late Life Depression, Invited Speaker
  Stockholm, Sweden (2005 - 2005)
  
• Organizing Committee
  Washington, United States (2003 - 2004)
  Organizing Committee
• Understanding the Interaction of Stress and Gender in Predicting Depression, Invited Speaker
  Berlin, Germany (2001 - 2001)
  
• The Science of Stress, Featured Expert and Consultant
  United Kingdom (2001 - 2001)
  
• Consultant
  Vancouver, Canada (1999 - 1999)
  Women's Health Research

Education & Training

Ph.D.

Penn State University/University Park (1980)

Post Doctoral

Yale University School of Medicine

Fellow

Yale University Health Services, Psychology (1981 - 1982)

Honors & Recognition

• American Psychological Association Distinguished Leadership Award
  Committee on Women in Psychology (2008)
• Elected
  Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (2010)
• Marion Spencer Fay Award
  Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership (2007)
• Inducted
  Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame (2009)
• Elizabeth Blackwell Award
  National Organization for Women - Connecticut Chapter (2007)
• The Stephen Fleck Clinician and Teacher Faculty Award
  Department of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine (1994)
• U.S. Public Health Service Fellowship
  (1979)

Professional Service

• Advisory Committee, Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) (2006)
• Speaker, Behavioral Health Space Flight Review Panel, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (2005)
• Invited Member, Surgeon General’s Workshop on Women’s Mental Health (2005)
• The Risk/Resilience Laboratory, The Department of Behavioral Sciences of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel (2005 - 2009)
• Fellow, Public Health Policy Fellow on the Democratic Staff of the Government Reform Committee for ranking Democratic member Henry A. Waxman of the U.S. House of Representatives (2004)
• Lecturer, Jane Wilson Smith Invited Lectureship at Tulane University (2004)
• Board, Community Fund for Women and Girls, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (2004 - 2010)
• Chair, American Psychological Association's Summit on Women and Depression (2000)
• Planning Committee, First White House Conference on Mental Health (1999)
• Speaker, Permanent Commission on the Status of Women for the State of Connecticut (1999)
• National Institute of Mental Health - Clinical Psychopathology Review Committee (1995 - 1999)
• Editorial Board - The Journal of Women's Health & Gender-Specific Medicine
• Editorial Board - Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology