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Michelle A. Chen

IPR Postdoctoral Fellow

IPR Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD, Psychology, Rice University

Contact: michelle.a.chen@northwestern.edu

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Michelle A. Chen is a Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow working with Drs. Edith Chen and Greg Miller in the Foundations of Health Research Center. Her research focuses on understanding how childhood adversity can impact biobehavioral processes that affect psychological and physical health outcomes across the lifespan. Current research projects include investigating how neighborhood-level structural racism can impact cardiovascular risk in disadvantaged youth.

Chen completed her Ph.D. at Rice University in Psychology as part of the Health Psychology & Behavioral Medicine Research Program, where she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein NIH National Research Service Award Predoctoral Fellowship for her dissertation work studying adverse childhood experiences and individual differences among dementia spousal caregivers.

Selected Publications

Chen, M. A., Chen, E., Gallivan, S. U., Brody, E. J., Passarelli, V., and Miller, G. E. In Press. Socioeconomic disadvantage, neighborhood belonging, and inflammation among adolescents. Psychosomatic Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001332

Chen, M. A., Suchting, R., Thayer, J. F., and Fagundes, C. P. 2023. Resilience to stress across the lifespan: Childhood maltreatment, heart rate variability, and bereavement. Psychology and Aging, 38(3), 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000738

Chen, M. A., and C. Fagundes. 2022. Childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms during spousal bereavement. Child Abuse & Neglect 128: 105618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105618

Chen, M. A., R. Brown, J. Chen, M. de Dios, C. Green, C. Heijnen, and C. Fagundes. 2022. Childhood maltreatment, subjective socioeconomic status, and health disparities in bereavement. Psychoneuroendocrinology 135: 105595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105595

Chen, M. A., A. LeRoy, M. Majd, J. Chen, R. Brown, L. Christian, and C. Fagundes. 2021. Immune and epigenetic pathways linking childhood adversity and health across the lifespan. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 5550. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.788351

Chen, M. A., M. Lewis, D. Chirinos, K. Murdock, and C. Fagundes. 2020. Differential psychological reactions to grief: The role of childhood adversity for depression symptoms among bereaved and non-bereaved adults. Death Studies 44(12): 778–86.