Cassandra L. Hendrix

Background

I began college confident I would become an actor or journalist. Clinical psychology was not on my radar until a professor suggested it during an advising meeting. Becoming a psychologist promised a career of discovery and of directly applying science to improve people’s lives; it sounded like, and has ultimately become, my dream job. Since that time, I have been fortunate to learn from compassionate and brilliant female mentors who encouraged me to take risks and to embrace mistakes as opportunities for growth. It is an honor to teach students at a pivotal point in their career trajectory, and I am passionate about training kind, open-minded thinkers. Outside of mentoring and research, I enjoy exploring wild places on land and undersea.

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, 2020-2024
• PhD, Clinical Psychology, Emory University, 2020
• MA, Psychology, Emory University, 2016
• BS, Psychology, Oglethorpe University, 2012

Courses

• TBD

Research

My research investigates the developmental origins of psychopathology, with a focus on perinatal mechanisms by which adversity is passed from parents to their children. In this work, I integrate fetal and infant magnetic resonance imaging with behavioral assessments, diagnostic evaluations, and measures of stress physiology across pregnancy and the postpartum. By understanding the early environmental, biological, and behavioral precursors of stress-related psychopathology, we can illuminate its cascading etiology and inform preventative interventions. This line of work has been funded by NSF, the American Psychological Foundation, and a Pathway to Independence Award from NIMH.