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
Population Mental Health Lab
Why population mental health? One-in-three people will experience a mental health condition at some point in their lives, resulting in enormous suffering for such individuals, their families, and their communities. Mental health problems onset early in life, usually by young adulthood, and negatively affect all aspects of adult development and their influence extends across generations.
The Population Mental Health Lab is founded on the principle that mental health is the basis of all health. We train students and postdoctoral fellows at the Chan School and provide evidence-based information to the public. In addition, we conduct a range of research on population mental health spanning from designing microbiome therapies to prevent PTSD to understanding the genetic risk factors behind psychosis.
“Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”
– World Health Organization