Office:  Monroe Hill - South Range #106
Website: www.drjessiestern.com

Education

2019 Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Maryland
2012 B.A. in Psychology (summa cum laude), Pomona College

Research Interests

How do social relationships shape human health, wellbeing, and social behavior across the lifespan? My research examines attachment relationships as a lens to understand individual differences in empathy, prosocial behavior, brain development, and physical health from infancy through adulthood. I'm especially interested in the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms by which social experiences (with parents, friends, and romantic partners) get "under the skin" to shape human development. Current projects examine the role of social experiences in shaping young children's empathy, helping behavior, and moral judgments of environmental harm.

Awards

Transformative Neurodevelopment Pilot Grant, UVA Brain Institute and Baby Brain Initiative 

National Research Service Award (F32), National Institute of Child Health & Human Development

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Small Climate Research Grant, 2020-2021

Society for Research in Child Development Dissertation Funding Award, 2018-2019

Milton Dean Havron Social Sciences Award, University of Maryland, 2018

National Science Foundation GRFP Fellowship, 2015-2018

University of Maryland Flagship Fellowship, 2014-2019