Academic Profiles
Karestan Koenen
Primary Faculty

Karestan Koenen

Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology

Epidemiology

kkoenen@hsph.harvard.edu

Other Positions

Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Director, Population Mental Health Lab and Concentration

Epidemiology

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Links

Overview

Karestan C. Koenen, PhD aims to reduce the population burden of mental disorders through research, training, and advocacy. She is passionate about using science to overcome violence and trauma, which are major preventable causes of health problems globally.

Research
Dr. Koenen directs the Biology of Trauma Initiative at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where she is an Institute Member. Her research focus is three-fold. First, she studies why some people develop PTSD and related mental and physical health problems and why some people are resilient when exposed to similar traumatic events. Second, she investigates how violence, trauma, and PTSD alter long-term physical health and accelerate aging. Third, she aims to expand access to evidence-based mental health treatment for survivors of violence and trauma. To this end, she co-wrote the book, Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse and Interpersonal Trauma: STAIR Narrative Therapy with Drs. Marylene Cloitre, Lisa Cohen. Kile M Ortigo, and Christie Jackson.

Relevant links:
Biology of Trauma: https://www.broadinstitute.org/biology-trauma-initiative-broad-institute
Book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Treating-Survivors-Childhood-Interpersonal-Trauma-ebook/dp/B0859BZZDM

Training
Dr. Koenen leads the NIMH-funded Training Program in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics (T32) and the Interdisciplinary Concentration in Population Mental Health. She also advises masters and doctoral degree students in the Departments of Epidemiology and Social Behavioral Sciences. In addition, Dr. Koenen leads the Trauma Epidemiology and Population Mental Health Research Group for her students and post-doctoral fellows. The group is primarily a forum for trainees and junior investigators to present and receive feedback on work-in-progress, but also includes presentations on advanced research methodology and career development.

For students who are interested in working within the Koenen lab, please use the following link to express interest. https://forms.gle/MQpU3nuS75k98kfP7

Advocacy
Dr. Koenen advocates for survivors of violence and trauma. In May 2011, Dr. Koenen testified before the House Foreign Affairs Full Committee about the epidemic of sexual violence and victim blaming culture of the Peace Corps. She has written for the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and the Women's Media Center's Women Under Siege Project, which investigates how rape and other forms of sexualized violence are used as tools in conflict. Dr. Koenen also consulted on the documentary, It Happened Here, which examined the epidemic of sexual assault on university campuses. In addition, Dr. Koenen speaks to lay audiences about the latest scientific findings around violence and trauma.

BA, 1990, Economics
Wellesley College

MA, 1996, Developmental Psychology
Columbia University

PhD, 1999, Clinical Psychology
Boston University

Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2002, Psychiatric Epidemiology
Columbia University

Bibliography

GWAS Meta-Analysis of Suicide Attempt: Identification of 12 Genome-Wide Significant Loci and Implication of Genetic Risks for Specific Health Factors.

Docherty AR, Mullins N, Ashley-Koch AE, Qin X, Coleman JRI, Shabalin A, Kang J, Murnyak B, Wendt F, Adams M, Campos AI, DiBlasi E, Fullerton JM, Kranzler HR, Bakian AV, Monson ET, Rentería ME, Walss-Bass C, Andreassen OA, Behera C, Bulik CM, Edenberg HJ, Kessler RC, Mann JJ, Nurnberger JI, Pistis G, Streit F, Ursano RJ, Polimanti R, Dennis M, Garrett M, Hair L, Harvey P, Hauser ER, Hauser MA, Huffman J, Jacobson D, Madduri R, McMahon B, Oslin DW, Trafton J, Awasthi S, Berrettini WH, Bohus M, Chang X, Chen HC, Chen WJ, Christensen ED, Crow S, Duriez P, Edwards AC, Fernández-Aranda F, Galfalvy H, Gandal M, Gorwood P, Guo Y, Hafferty JD, Hakonarson H, Halmi KA, Hishimoto A, Jain S, Jamain S, Jiménez-Murcia S, Johnson C, Kaplan AS, Kaye WH, Keel PK, Kennedy JL, Kim M, Klump KL, Levey DF, Li D, Liao SC, Lieb K, Lilenfeld L, Marshall CR, Mitchell JE, Okazaki S, Otsuka I, Pinto D, Powers A, Ramoz N, Ripke S, Roepke S, Rozanov V, Scherer SW, Schmahl C, Sokolowski M, Starnawska A, Strober M, Su MH, Thornton LM, Treasure J, Ware EB, Watson HJ, Witt SH, Woodside DB, Yilmaz Z, Zillich L, Adolfsson R, Agartz I, Alda M, Alfredsson L, Appadurai V, Artigas MS, Van der Auwera S, Azevedo MH, Bass N, Bau CHD, Baune BT, Bellivier F, Berger K, Biernacka JM, Bigdeli TB, Binder EB, Boehnke M, Boks MP, Braff DL, Bryant R, Budde M, Byrne EM, Cahn W, Castelao E, Cervilla JA, Chaumette B, Corvin A, Craddock N, Djurovic S, Foo JC, Forstner AJ, Frye M, Gatt JM, Giegling I, Grabe HJ, Green MJ, Grevet EH, Grigoroiu-Serbanescu M, Gutierrez B, Guzman-Parra J, Hamshere ML, Hartmann AM, Hauser J, Heilmann-Heimbach S, Hoffmann P, Ising M, Jones I, Jones LA, Jonsson L, Kahn RS, Kelsoe JR, Kendler KS, Kloiber S, Koenen KC, Kogevinas M, Krebs MO, Landén M, Leboyer M, Lee PH, Levinson DF, Liao C, Lissowska J, Mayoral F, McElroy SL, McGrath P, McGuffin P, McQuillin A, Mehta D, Melle I, Mitchell PB, Molina E, Morken G, Nievergelt C, Nöthen MM, O'Donovan MC, Ophoff RA, Owen MJ, Pato C, Pato MT, Penninx BWJH, Potash JB, Power RA, Preisig M, Quested D, Ramos-Quiroga JA, Reif A, Ribasés M, Richarte V, Rietschel M, Rivera M, Roberts A, Roberts G, Rouleau GA, Rovaris DL, Sanders AR, Schofield PR, Schulze TG, Scott LJ, Serretti A, Shi J, Sirignano L, Sklar P, Smeland OB, Smoller JW, Sonuga-Barke EJS, Trzaskowski M, Tsuang MT, Turecki G, Vilar-Ribó L, Vincent JB, Völzke H, Walters JTR, Weickert CS, Weickert TW, Weissman MM, Williams LM, Wray NR, Zai CC, Agerbo E, Børglum AD, Breen G, Demontis D, Erlangsen A, Gelernter J, Glatt SJ, Hougaard DM, Hwu HG, Kuo PH, Lewis CM, Li QS, Liu CM, Martin NG, McIntosh AM, Medland SE, Mors O, Nordentoft M, Olsen CM, Porteous D, Smith DJ, Stahl EA, Stein MB, Wasserman D, Werge T, Whiteman DC, Willour V, Coon H, Beckham JC, Kimbrel NA, Ruderfer DM.

Am J Psychiatry. 2023 10 01. 180(10):723-738. PMID: 37777856

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Neural Correlates of Threat and Reward Processing in Survivors of Recent Trauma.

Webb EK, Ely TD, Rowland GE, Lebois LAM, van Rooij SJH, Bruce SE, Jovanovic T, House SL, Beaudoin FL, An X, Neylan TC, Clifford GD, Linnstaedt SD, Germine LT, Bollen KA, Rauch SL, Haran JP, Storrow AB, Lewandowski C, Musey PI, Hendry PL, Sheikh S, Jones CW, Punches BE, Swor RA, Pascual JL, Seamon MJ, Datner EM, Pearson C, Peak DA, Merchant RC, Domeier RM, Rathlev NK, Sergot P, Sanchez LD, Kessler RC, Koenen KC, McLean SA, Stevens JS, Ressler KJ, Harnett NG.

JAMA Netw Open. 2023 09 05. 6(9):e2334483. PMID: 37721751

Discovery of 95 PTSD loci provides insight into genetic architecture and neurobiology of trauma and stress-related disorders.

Nievergelt CM, Maihofer AX, Atkinson EG, Chen CY, Choi KW, Coleman JR, Daskalakis NP, Duncan LE, Polimanti R, Aaronson C, Amstadter AB, Andersen SB, Andreassen OA, Arbisi PA, Ashley-Koch AE, Austin SB, Avdibegoviç E, Babic D, Bacanu SA, Baker DG, Batzler A, Beckham JC, Belangero S, Benjet C, Bergner C, Bierer LM, Biernacka JM, Bierut LJ, Bisson JI, Boks MP, Bolger EA, Brandolino A, Breen G, Bressan RA, Bryant RA, Bustamante AC, Bybjerg-Grauholm J, Bækvad-Hansen M, Børglum AD, Børte S, Cahn L, Calabrese JR, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Chatzinakos C, Cheema S, Clouston SAP, Colodro-Conde L, Coombes BJ, Cruz-Fuentes CS, Dale AM, Dalvie S, Davis LK, Deckert J, Delahanty DL, Dennis MF, deRoon-Cassini T, Desarnaud F, DiPietro CP, Disner SG, Docherty AR, Domschke K, Dyb G, Kulenovic AD, Edenberg HJ, Evans A, Fabbri C, Fani N, Farrer LA, Feder A, Feeny NC, Flory JD, Forbes D, Franz CE, Galea S, Garrett ME, Gelaye B, Gelernter J, Geuze E, Gillespie CF, Goci A, Goleva SB, Gordon SD, Grasser LR, Guindalini C, Haas M, Hagenaars S, Hauser MA, Heath AC, Hemmings SM, Hesselbrock V, Hickie IB, Hogan K, Hougaard DM, Huang H, Huckins LM, Hveem K, Jakovljevic M, Javanbakht A, Jenkins GD, Johnson J, Jones I, Jovanovic T, Karstoft KI, Kaufman ML, Kennedy JL, Kessler RC, Khan A, Kimbrel NA, King AP, Koen N, Kotov R, Kranzler HR, Krebs K, Kremen WS, Kuan PF, Lawford BR, Lebois LAM, Lehto K, Levey DF, Lewis C, Liberzon I, Linnstaedt SD, Logue MW, Lori A, Lu Y, Luft BJ, Lupton MK, Luykx JJ, Makotkine I, Maples-Keller JL, Marchese S, Marmar C, Martin NG, MartÍnez-Levy GA, McAloney K, McFarlane A, McLaughlin KA, McLean SA, Medland SE, Mehta D, Meyers J, Michopoulos V, Mikita EA, Milani L, Milberg W, Miller MW, Morey RA, Morris CP, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Mufford MS, Nelson EC, Nordentoft M, Norman SB, Nugent NR, O'Donnell M, Orcutt HK, Pan PM, Panizzon MS, Pathak GA, Peters ES, Peterson AL, Peverill M, Pietrzak RH, Polusny MA, Porjesz B, Powers A, Qin XJ, Ratanatharathorn A, Risbrough VB, Roberts AL, Rothbaum BO, Rothbaum AO, Roy-Byrne P, Ruggiero KJ, Rung A, Runz H, Rutten BPF, de Viteri SS, Salum GA, Sampson L, Sanchez SE, Santoro M, Seah C, Seedat S, Seng JS, Shabalin A, Sheerin CM, Silove D, Smith AK, Smoller JW, Sponheim SR, Stein DJ, Stensland S, Stevens JS, Sumner JA, Teicher MH, Thompson WK, Tiwari AK, Trapido E, Uddin M, Ursano RJ, Valdimarsdóttir U, van den Heuvel LL, Van Hooff M, van Rooij SJ, Vermetten E, Vinkers CH, Voisey J, Wang Z, Wang Y, Waszczuk M, Weber H, Wendt FR, Werge T, Williams MA, Williamson DE, Winsvold BS, Winternitz S, Wolf EJ, Wolf C, Xia Y, Xiong Y, Yehuda R, Young RM, Young KA, Zai CC, Zai GC, Zervas M, Zhao H, Zoellner LA, Zwart JA, Stein MB, Ressler KJ, Koenen KC.

medRxiv. 2023 Sep 02. PMID: 37693460

Associations of alcohol and cannabis use with change in posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms over time in recently trauma-exposed individuals.

Hinojosa CA, Liew A, An X, Stevens JS, Basu A, van Rooij SJH, House SL, Beaudoin FL, Zeng D, Neylan TC, Clifford GD, Jovanovic T, Linnstaedt SD, Germine LT, Rauch SL, Haran JP, Storrow AB, Lewandowski C, Musey PI, Hendry PL, Sheikh S, Jones CW, Punches BE, Kurz MC, Swor RA, Hudak LA, Pascual JL, Seamon MJ, Datner EM, Chang AM, Pearson C, Peak DA, Merchant RC, Domeier RM, Rathlev NK, Sergot P, Sanchez LD, Bruce SE, Miller MW, Pietrzak RH, Joormann J, Pizzagalli DA, Sheridan JF, Harte SE, Elliott JM, Kessler RC, Koenen KC, McLean SA, Ressler KJ, Fani N.

Psychol Med. 2023 Jun 13. 1-12. PMID: 37309917

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