Professor Hatzenbuehler’s research focuses broadly on identifying the biopsychosocial mechanisms that contribute to adverse mental health outcomes among minority group members, with a particular focus on the role of stigma in shaping the development and maintenance of psychopathology. His research: 1) adopts a “cells-to-society” approach to the study of stigma, integrating structural, social, psychological, and biological factors; 2) incorporates numerous research designs, including quasi-experimental (e.g., “natural experiments,” interrupted time series), laboratory, and experience sampling methodologies; and 3) examines mental health consequences of stigma across numerous identities, statuses, and conditions, including gender, race, weight, addiction, immigration status, and sexual orientation.

Mark Hatzenbuehler received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Yale and completed his post-doctoral training in population health at Columbia, where he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar. Prior to arriving at Harvard, he was an Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the William T. Grant Foundation. He has received several early career and distinguished scientific contribution awards from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. He is an elected fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the premier honorary organization for scientists working at the interface of behavior and medicine.

Research interests: mental health consequences of structural forms of stigma; biopsychosocial mechanisms linking stigma and mental health; mental health of minority groups; social determinants of psychopathology; contextual effects on psychological interventions.