Laurel Raffington

Leader of the Max Planck Research Group
Biosocial – Biology, Social Disparities, and Development
Contact:
E-Mail: raffington@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
CV:
Since 2022: Research Group Leader MPRG Biosocial, MPI for Human Development
2019–2022: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Texas at Austin, Population Research Center
2018–2019: Postdoctoral researcher, MPI for Human Development, Center for Lifespan Psychology
2013-2018: Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) in Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, MPI for Human Development
2011–2013: MSc in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin, Psychology
2007-2010: BSc in Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, School of Psychological Science
Research Interests:
Dr. Laurel Raffington’s research spans the fields of developmental psychology, public health, and genomics. Her research seeks to understand how systems of social inequality and genetically-influenced differences between people combine to shape differential outcomes of education, health, and well-being across the lifespan and across generations. The goal of Dr. Raffington‘s work is to reduce the effects of social inequality on child and adolescent well-being by identifying environmental factors that promote more equitable outcomes. Her current work follows three research streams:
- Analysis of longitudinal cohort studies and randomized trials to examine molecular pathways to social disparities in child and adolescent physical and psychological health and performance on cognitive tasks.
- Analysis of gene-environment interplay to identify environmental factors that can be modified to increase child well-being.
- Integrating genetic research into developmental science in an anti-racist framework.
Selected Literature:
- Raffington, L., & Belsky, D.W. (2022). Integrating DNA-Methylation Measures of Biological Aging into Social Determinants of Health Research. Current Environmental Health Reports, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-022-00338-8
- Raffington, L., Malanchini, M., Grotzinger, A. D., Madole, J. W., Engelhardt, L., Sabhlok, A., Youn, C., Patterson, M. W., Harden, P. K., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2022). A novel stressful environment evokes unique genetic variation in child cortisol output. Developmental Psychology, in press.
- Raffington, L., Belsky, D. W., Kothari, M., Malanchini, M., Tucker-Drob, E. M., & Harden, K. P. (2021). Socioeconomic disadvantage and the pace of biological aging in children. Pediatrics, 147(6). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-024406
- Raffington, L., Mallard, T., & Harden, P. K. (2020). Polygenic scores in developmental psychology: Invite genetics in, leave biodeterminism behind. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 2(1), 389-411. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-051820-123945
- Raffington, L., Czamara, D., Mohn, J. J., Falck, J., Schmoll, V., Heim, C. H., Binder, E. B., & Shing, Y. L. (2019). Stable longitudinal associations of family income with children’s hippocampal volume and memory persist after controlling for polygenic scores of educational attainment. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 40, 100720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100720
- Raffington, L., Prindle, J. & Shing, Y. L. (2018). Income gains predict cognitive functioning longitudinally throughout later childhood in poor children. Developmental Psychology, 54(7), 1232-1243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000529