Handbook of Preschool Mental Health

Joan L. Luby, MD, is the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Psychiatry (Child) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she is also founder and director of the Early Emotional Development Program. Dr. Luby’s research focuses on preschool mood disorders, particularly depression—its clinical characteristics, biological markers, and associated alterations in brain and emotional development in young children with depressive syndromes. Another key area of interest is treatment development that focuses on early psychotherapeutic intervention, sensitive periods, and neural markers of change. Dr. Luby’s contributions include establishing the criteria for identification, validation, and early intervention in depressive syndromes in the preschool age group, as well as studies showing the effect of parental nurturance and early experiences of poverty on brain development. She is a recipient of honors including the Gerald Klerman Prize for Clinical Research from NARSAD (now the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation) and the Irving Philips Award for Prevention from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Luby has published extensively in general and child psychiatry journals and serves on a number of editorial boards.