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Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD

Norma Weinberg Spungen and Joan Lebson Bildner Professor in Women's Health Research and Professor of Psychiatry and of Psychology

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Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD

Research Summary

Carolyn M. Mazure is the Spungen Bildner Professor in Women's Health Research, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology. She created and directs Yale's interdisciplinary research center on the health of women and the role of sex and gender on health - Women's Health Research at Yale. The center initiates and supports innovative studies and translates findings into practice. Professor Mazure's research focuses on the health of women, the intersection of biological and social determinants of health, and the influence of sex and gender in health outcomes. Her work includes studies on the underpinnings and treatment of depression, more common in women worldwide, and the interplay of stress and depression. Her research has shown life stress as a predictor of depressive onset in both women and men but a more potent risk factor for women; found early lifetime adversity as a predictor of depression in adults experiencing stress; identified cognitive styles, through which early life adversity incurs risk later in life, such as heightened need for control that predict risk in early adulthood yet can enhance resilience in aging. Subsequent research in smoking dependence found sex differences in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying smoking behaviors, and stress as a more likely predictor of poor health outcomes in women than men. Current efforts target sex and gender differences in stress and resilience, and show co-occurring stressors explain enhanced response to index stressors in women. Specialized Terms: Stress, Resilience, Depression; Addictive behaviors; Women's health research; Gender-specific aspects of health and disease

Coauthors

Research Interests

Depressive Disorder; Psychiatry; Sex Differentiation; Stress, Psychological; Women's Health; Behavior, Addictive; Tobacco Use Cessation

Selected Publications