Announcing our 2025 Dissertation Research Award Recipients
We are delighted to recognize our 2025 Dissertation Research Award recipients, Logan Nicole Beyer and Laura Chen, for their outstanding, innovative work in the field of positive health. Their research reflects our Center’s asset-based approach to understanding how psychological, social, and physical strengths support well-being and happiness.
Logan Nicole Beyer
MD/PhD Candidate in Social & Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard Medical School & Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Dissertation Title: Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Longitudinal Effects of Early Environments on Child Health and Behavior
Logan’s dissertation examines how neighborhood social environments shape children’s mental, physical, and behavioral health across development. Using longitudinal data from a large and diverse U.S. birth cohort, she investigates how improvements in neighborhood contexts are associated with children’s emotional and behavioral regulation, prosocial behavior, and physical health from early childhood through adolescence. In particular, she will identify sensitive developmental periods during which neighborhood collective efficacy, or the shared trust and willingness of community members to support one another, has the greatest influence on child well-being, and she will examine which aspects of neighborhoods, when improved over time, offer the greatest benefits for behavior outcomes into young adulthood.
Laura Chen
PhD Candidate in Social & Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Dissertation Title: A Matter of Time? Insights into cardiovascular health from time use data
Laura is broadly interested in the sociostructural drivers of cardiovascular health and health inequities. Her dissertation examines leisure/discretionary time as a health-promoting resource. Specifically, her projects investigate 1) how daily leisure time influences cortisol dynamics and buffers stress responses, 2) how “time poverty” may undermine cardiovascular health over time, and 3) whether receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit allows individuals to invest more time into health-promoting behaviors. Together, these projects illuminate discretionary time as an important resource for health.
We are proud to support their work and look forward to seeing how their research helps build healthier, happier communities!
