Population Mental Health Lab
The Population Mental Health Lab, led by Dr. Karestan Koenen, provides training, conducts research, and acts as a public resource of information to advance understanding and support for mental health at a population level. The lab aims to move beyond documenting the mental health burden, distribution, and causes of mental ill health towards using what we know to improve population mental health.
677 Huntington Avenue,
Kresge Building, Suite 505
Boston, MA 02115, USA
Select Publications
The link between traumatic experiences and health in late life: challenges and opportunities for US-based longitudinal aging cohorts. Murchland, A. R., Koenen, K. C., & Hayes-Larson, E. Am J Epidemiol (2025). PMID: 39191531.
Genome-wide association analyses identify 95 risk loci and provide insights into the neurobiology of post-traumatic stress disorder. Nievergelt, C. M., Maihofer, A. X., Atkinson, E. G., Chen, C.-Y., Choi, K. W., Coleman, J. R. I., Daskalakis, N. P., Duncan, L. E., Polimanti, R., Aaronson, C., Amstadter, A. B., Andersen, S. B., Andreassen, O. A., Arbisi, P. A., Ashley-Koch, A. E., Austin, S. B., Avdibegoviç, E., Babić, D., Bacanu, S.-A., . . . & Koenen, K. C. Nature Genetics (2024). PMID: 39191531.
Childhood maltreatment and health in the UK Biobank: triangulation of outcome-wide and polygenic risk score analyses. Espinosa Dice, A. L., Lawn, R. B., Ratanatharathorn, A., Roberts, A. L., Denckla, C. A., Kim, A. H., de la Rosa, P. A., Zhu, Y., VanderWeele, T. J., & Koenen, K. C. BMC Medicine (2024). PMID: 38523269.
Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Accelerated Cognitive Decline in Middle-aged Women. Roberts, A. L., Liu, J., Lawn, R. B., Jha, S. C., Sumner, J. A., Kang, J. H., Rimm, E. B., Grodstein, F., Kubzansky, L. D., Chibnik, L. B., & Koenen, K. C. JAMA Network Open (2022). PMID: 35771577.
National and regional prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ng, L. C., Stevenson, A., Kalapurakkel, S. S., Hanlon, C., Seedat, S., Harerimana, B., Chiliza, B., & Koenen, K. C. PLoS Med (2020). PMID: 32413027.
Neuropsychiatric Genetics of African Populations-Psychosis (NeuroGAP-Psychosis): a case-control study protocol and GWAS in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Stevenson, A., Akena, D., Stroud, R. E., Atwoli, L., Campbell, M. M., Chibnik, L. B., Kwobah, E., Kariuki, S. M., Martin, A. R., de Menil, V., Newton, C., Sibeko, G., Stein, D. J., Teferra, S., Zingela, Z., & Koenen, K. C. BMJ Open (2019). PMID: 30782936.
‘Global mental health’: systematic review of the term and its implicit priorities. Misra, S., Stevenson, A., Haroz, E. E., de Menil, V., & Koenen, K. C. BJPsych Open (2019). PMID: 31530316.
The epidemiology of traumatic event exposure worldwide: results from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium. Benjet, C., Bromet, E., Karam, E. G., Kessler, R. C., McLaughlin, K. A., Ruscio, A. M., Shahly, V., Stein, D. J., Petukhova, M., Hill, E., Alonso, J., Atwoli, L., Bunting, B., Bruffaerts, R., Caldas-de-Almeida, J. M., de Girolamo, G., Florescu, S., Gureje, O., Huang, Y., . . . Koenen, K. C. Psychol Med (2016). PMID: 26511595.
Posttraumatic stress disorder in the World Mental Health Surveys. Koenen, K. C., Ratanatharathorn, A., Ng, L., McLaughlin, K. A., Bromet, E. J., Stein, D. J., Karam, E. G., Meron Ruscio, A., Benjet, C., Scott, K., Atwoli, L., Petukhova, M., Lim, C. C. W., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Bunting, B., Ciutan, M., de Girolamo, G., . . . Kessler, R. C. Psychol Med (2017). PMID: 28385165.
Trauma Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Predict Onset of Cardiovascular Events in Women. Sumner, J. A., Kubzansky, L. D., Elkind, M. S., Roberts, A. L., Agnew-Blais, J., Chen, Q., Cerda, M., Rexrode, K. M., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Spiegelman, D., Suglia, S. F., Rimm, E. B., & Koenen, K. C. Circulation (2015). PMID: 26124186.
Childhood IQ and Adult Mental Disorders: A Test of the Cognitive Reserve Hypothesis. Koenen, K. C., Moffitt, T. E., Roberts, A. L., Martin, L. T., Kubzansky, L., Harrington, H., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. American Journal of Psychiatry (2009). PMID: 19047325.