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Rolf Loeber, Ph.D. 

Principal Investigator
PYS, DTS, PGS

Rolf has been with each of the studies since their inception. He first studied in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He has published 4 books and over 250 scientific papers. Rolf’s interests are in how and why young people develop serious problems in their lives, including serious delinquency, mental problems, and drug problems. His challenges are to better understand and document how the behaviors of young people change with development, how risk and protective factors may emerge and persist during that development, and why this information is relevant for prevention and intervention.

Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
PYS & PGS

Magda has been involved with the Life History Studies group since its inception. She completed her M.A. in Holland, and her Ph.D. in Psychology at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.  She has published widely on the data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study, particularly in the areas of help seeking and child abuse.  Currently, she is working on positive outcomes, i.e., desistance and well-adjusted young men.  She has been involved in many of the sub studies and has worked together with researchers who have used data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study.

David P. Farrington, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
PYS

David received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Cambridge University and has been a part of the study since the beginning as a co-applicant to OJJDP in 1986.  He has published 25 books, over 360 papers, and his research interests are in risk factors for offending, and development of offending at different ages. David is currently working on a third book on the study and has recently completed two papers: one comparing self-reported and official offending and the other comparing homicide offenders and victims.

Helene Raskin-White, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
PYS & PGS

Helene received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University.  She is currently a Professor at Rutgers University and has a joint appointment at the Center of Alcohol Studies and the Sociology Department. She has been with the Pittsburgh Youth Study since it received funding from NIDA in 1997 and with the Girls Study since 2000.  Her research focuses on the etiology, consequences and comorbidity of drug use, delinquency, violence, and mental health problems.  

Benjamin Lahey, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
DTS

Ben received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee and has been a co-investigator on the Developmental Trends Study since its inception.  He is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Psychology at the University of Chicago, and the President of the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (APA’s Division 53).  Ben has recently completed “Childhood predictors of antisocial personality disorder in young males”, which is in press at the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology.

Kathryn Keenan, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
PGS

Kate received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995.  During her graduate training, she published articles from the Developmental Trends Study and the Pittsburgh Youth Study.  It was during that time that she began participating in the plans to start the Pittsburgh Girls Study, which is the project to which much of her time is devoted.  Kate's broad area of research is the identification of early markers of risk for psychopathology.

Alison Hipwell, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
PGS

Alison received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London, and her ClinPsyD in Clinical Psychology from the University of East Anglia, UK. She has been a part of the Pittsburgh Girls Study since November 2001, and her research interests are in the fields of developmental psychopathology and factors related to childrearing. Alison is also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at WPIC and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Jeffrey D. Burke, Ph.D. 

Co-Principal Investigator
Consortium

Jeff earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut, has been with the Life History Studies group since 1998.  He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, and is the principal investigator of an NIMH funded project examining parental help-seeking for the disruptive behavior disorders.  He was previously the coordinator for the Developmental Trends Study.  His interests are in the factors involved in the development of disruptive behavior disorders, parental cognitions regarding service use, issues of comorbidity, and the role of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in the development of affective and behavioral disorders.  A recent paper of Jeff’s provides further evidence regarding the role of inattention in the development of tobacco use among adolescent boys. 

Dustin Pardini, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator
PYS

Stephanie D. Stepp, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator
PGS

Evelyn Wei, Ph.D.

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