Julia L. Zehr, NIMH
Julia L. Zehr, PhD
Branch Chief
Developmental Mechanisms and Trajectories of Psychopathology Branch
Division of Translational Research
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institutes of Health
6001 Executive Blvd., MSC 9617
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: 301-443-1617
Fax: 301-480-4415
Email: zehrj@mail.nih.gov
For deliveries: Rockville, MD 20852
Biographical Summary
Julia L. Zehr, Ph.D., is Branch Chief of the Developmental Mechanisms and Trajectories of Psychopathology Branch in the Division of Translational Research at the National Institute of Mental Health. In this role, she oversees research on developmental mechanisms contributing to mental disorders and on developmental trajectories of risk and resilience. Dr. Zehr serves as the NIMH representative for the NIH Pediatric Research Consortium and contributes to a variety of trans-NIH initiatives on infant, toddler, and early childhood development. She has been a program officer at NIMH since 2008, managing research on neurodevelopment, experiential and environmental factors contributing to psychopathology, and trajectories of risk and resilience in childhood and adolescence. Before working at NIMH, Dr. Zehr worked as a review scientist for the Office of Animal Welfare at the University of Washington, working with investigators to assure vertebrate animal compliance for funding from federal, foundation, private, and intramural sources. Dr. Zehr received her Ph.D. in Psychobiology in 2002 from Emory University and completed her postdoctoral training at Michigan State University. Dr. Zehr’s past research focused on adolescent development of brain and behavior. Specifically, she examined the effects of prenatal androgens on puberty onset and social behavior in rhesus monkeys. She also studied adolescent brain development in rats and hamsters, testing whether steroid hormones alter brain structure.