Megan Herting, PhD

Biography

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences and the Director of the Herting NeuroImaging Laboratory at the University of Southern California. Broadly, my research has focused on brain and cognitive development in healthy and at-risk populations including several ongoing NIH funded studies in children, adolescents, and young adults. Using cognitive-behavioral assessments, neuropsychological testing, semi-structured mental health interviews, and a multi-modal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) approach, I aim to determine which lifestyle and environmental factors, including exposure to air pollutants, influence neurodevelopment, cognition, and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents.

At a national level, I am part of multiple NIH consortium projects that aim to further assess how hormones and the environment may affect brain maturation, cognition, and mental health, including the Linked External Data Environment and member of the Physical Health Working Groups for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (U01DA041048, 2P30ES007048-23S1) and the Neurodevelopment Working Group for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program (4UH3OD023287). I am also a co-chair for the new ENIGMA Environment working group.