Kate Ryan Kuhlman is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science and Public Health at the University of California Irvine and the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at University of California Los Angeles. Her research focuses on how childhood adversity confers risk for poor health outcomes throughout the lifespan, with a current interest in the neurobiological processes underlying depression in adolescence.
Kate Ryan Kuhlman
Associate Professor
4546 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway
krkuhl@uci.edu
Key Research Area
childhood adversity / early life stress, adolescence, depression, psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, clinical science
Professional Bio
Stress, trauma, and maltreatment during childhood are linked to greater risk for psychopathology, poorer physical health and higher health care costs, lower social and educational achievement, and earlier mortality. My research seeks to mitigate some of these lifelong sequelae of early experiences by understanding how early experiences impact the way the body responds to stress, the way the brain responds to stress, and identifying the psychological resources that predict resilience in at-risk youth. For example, does childhood adversity change the way the immune system responds to stress? Does childhood adversity sensitize the brain to inflammatory and stress hormone signaling from the body? My team measures neuroendocrine, inflammatory, gonadal, psychological, and behavioral responses to stress in adolescents to better understand both risk and resilience to depression and other stress-related disorders.
Education
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Psychology and Psychoneuroimmunology at University of California Los Angeles
Predoctoral Clinical Internship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at San Diego VA/UCSD
M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychological Science at the University of Michigan
Certification in Lifespan Developmental Science at the International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course and Ontogenetics
B.S. in Psychology at New York University
The Teen Resilience Lab (TRL)
Looking to join the Teen Resilience Lab? We are always looking for hard-working students interested in gaining experience in clinical psychological science. You can find more information about our lab and our current projects by visiting our website or following us on X (formerly Twitter) @teenresilience .
Prospective Graduate Students
I will not be taking a new PhD student to begin in the Fall of 2026.