Faculty

Institution

Unit

Venue

Alexander Dufford

Oregon Health & Science University

Affiliations

OHSU School of Medicine

Center For Mental Health Innovation

Department Of Psychiatry

Clinical Psychology

Division Of Clinical Psychology

Oregon Health & Science University

Alexander Dufford is a Senior Professor at Oregon Health & Science University. His research integrates developmental cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, and child development to examine how socioeconomic adversity and prenatal exposures shape brain structure and function. His recent work investigates how household income instability during pregnancy affects infant subcortical volumes and postpartum brain function for parent-infant bonding, alongside studies on in utero cannabis exposure and total brain volume. He also contributes to the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, quantifying early brain development via MRI protocols. His research spans neurology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences, with publications in Biological Psychiatry CNNI and Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

Honors

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Alexander Dufford

Oregon Health & Science University

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neuroscience neuroimaging child development developmental cognitive neuroscience neurology psychiatry developmental psychology cognitive neuroscience brain structure cognitive science cognitive development developmental neurobiology child neurology early childhood development brain imaging systems neuroscience behavioral neuroscience neurodevelopmental disorders biological psychiatry brain function cannabis use early life exposures infant neuroimaging studies neuropsychology psychoneuroendocrinology affective neuroscience child psychology brain organization predictive modeling connectomics neonatology brain science maternal complications parental care middle childhood mammalian biology molecular psychiatry developmental science early childhood biomedical imaging reproductive health addictive behaviors neural science brain health psychological deprivation bioacoustics white matter laboratory protocols magnetic resonance imaging 3d body scanning abdominal imaging neuropsychological functioning neurological functioning executive function emotion regulation psychoactive substance use high-risk pregnancies response prediction primary investigation child psychiatry developmental toxicology language network maternal brain parental self-efficacy cortical thickness variation family income cumulative risk exposure white matter structure predictive models childhood poverty emerging evidence stress exposure brain responses postpartum period infant brain prenatal exposures

Notable Scholarly Works

Notable Federal Grants

Collaborators

Cascading Periods of Language-Related Brain Plasticity Across Early Childhood. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)

language developmentcognitive scienceneurolinguisticslanguage acquisitionchild languagelanguage processing in the braincognitive developmentlanguage disorderslanguage networkdevelopmental cognitive neurosciencelanguagepsycholinguisticslanguage-related brain plasticitylanguage learning

Income Instability During Pregnancy Prospectively Relates to Postpartum Brain Function for Parent-Infant Bonding. Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2026)

postpartum brain functionfamily relationsbehavioral sciencespregnancy prospectivelyparental careincome instabilityfamily issuesdevelopmental cognitive neurosciencechild developmentmaternal healthsocioeconomic statuspsychologymaternal complications

Prenatal Household Income Instability and Infant Subcortical Brain Volumes. UNC Libraries (2026)

pediatricsearly life exposuresearly childhood developmentneurosciencedemographyhuman brainbrain structuredevelopmental cognitive neurosciencechild developmentsocioeconomic statuschild neurology

In Utero Chronic Cannabis Exposure is Associated With Lower Total Brain Volume in the First Month of Postnatal Life. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (2025)

neurologyearly life exposuresdevelopmental toxicologyaddiction biologyneuropsychopharmacologyneurosciencefirst monthhuman braincannabis usebrain sciencebrain structurepregnancy hypertensiondevelopmental neurobiologymaternal healthpostnatal life

Poverty and Socioeconomic Adversity in Relation to Child and Adolescent Health.. American Psychological Association eBooks (2025)

Alexander J. DuffordPilyoung KimGary W. Evans

pediatricspublic healthchild healthadolescent healthpovertysocioeconomic adversitysocial determinants of healthsocial epidemiologychild nutritionchild developmentsocioeconomic statuschild abuse

Caudate Volume is Prospectively Associated With Irritability in Toddlerhood: A Preliminary Investigation. Developmental Psychobiology (2024)

Alexander J. DuffordLeigha MacNeillYudong ZhangAshley NielsenChristopher SmyserJoan L. LubyCynthia E. RogersElizabeth NortonLauren Wakschlag

caudate volumeprimary investigationpreliminary investigationdevelopmental psychologydevelopmental biologychild development

Longitudinal Neuroanatomical Increases From Early to One-Year Postpartum. Brain Structure and Function (2024)

Alexander J DuffordGenevieve PattersonPilyoung Kim

neuroanatomyneuroscienceone-year postpartum

Maternal Cortisol Concentration is Associated With Reduced Brain Activation to Infant Cry and More Intrusive Parenting Behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2024)

Andrew ErhartSarah WatamuraAviva K OlsavskyAlexander DuffordRebekah TribbleTom YehPilyoung Kim

emotional selfregulationearly life exposuresreduced brain activationstress (biology)neurosciencebehavioral neurosciencepsychoneuroendocrinologypsychologymaternal cortisol concentrationintrusive parenting behaviorchild psychologychild developmentmaternal healthbehavioral sciencesparental care

Quantifying Brain Development in the Healthy Brain and Child Development (Hbcd) Study: The Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Protocol. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2024)

Douglas C DeanM Dylan TisdallJessica L WisnowskiEric FeczkoBorjan GagoskiAndrew L AlexanderRichard A E EddenWei GaoTimothy J HendricksonBrittany R HowellHao HuangKathryn L HumphreysTracy RigginsChad M SylvesterKimberly B WeldonEssa YacoubBanu AhtamNatacha BeckSuchandrima BanerjeeSergiy BorodayArvind CaprihanBryan CaronSamuel CarpenterYulin ChangAi Wern ChungMatthew CieslakWilliam T ClarkeAnders DaleSamir DasChristopher W Davies-JenkinsAlexander J DuffordAlan C EvansLaetitia FesselierSandeep K GanjiGuillaume GilbertAlice M GrahamAaron T GudmundsonMaren Macgregor-HannahMichael P HarmsTom HilbertSteve C N HuiM Okan IrfanogluSteven KecskemetiTobias KoberJoshua M KupermanBidhan LamichhaneBennett A LandmanXavier Lecour-BourcherErik G LeeXu LiLeigh MacIntyreCecile MadjarMary Kate ManhardAndrew R MayerKahini MehtaLucille A MooreSaipavitra Murali-ManoharCristian NavarroMary Beth NebelSharlene D NewmanAllen T NewtonRalph NoeskeElizabeth S NortonGeorg OeltzschnerRegis Ongaro-CarcyXiawei OuMinhui OuyangTodd B ParrishJames J PekarThomas PengoCarlo PierpaoliRussell A PoldrackVidya RajagopalanDan W RettmannPierre RiouxJens T RosenbergTaylor SaloTheodore D SatterthwaiteLisa S ScottEunkyung ShinGizeaddis SimegnW Kyle SimmonsYulu SongBarry J TikalskyJean TkachPeter C M van ZijlJennifer VannestMaarten VersluisYansong ZhaoHelge J ZöllnerDamien A FairChristopher D SmyserJed T Elison

systems neuroscienceneurosciencecognitive developmentdevelopmental biologybrain structurehealthy brainbrain developmentearly childhood developmentlaboratory protocolsspectroscopy protocoldevelopmental psychologyearly childhooddevelopmental cognitive neurosciencedevelopmental neurobiologybrain functionrehabilitationbrain imagingcognitive neurosciencebrain sciencechild developmentchild neurology

Cannabis Use During Pregnancy and Hemodynamic Responses to Infant Cues in Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2023)

Shannon PowersXu HanJacqueline MartinezAlexander John DuffordTorri D. MetzTom YehPilyoung Kim

psychiatryexploratory studycannabis usepharmacologychild developmentmaternal healthhemodynamic responsesbehavioral sciences

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Alexander Dufford

Oregon Health & Science University

Affiliations

OHSU School of Medicine

Center For Mental Health Innovation

Department Of Psychiatry

Clinical Psychology

Division Of Clinical Psychology

Oregon Health & Science University

Honors

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Experiences

Create free account to unlock more features

Education

Create free account to unlock more features

Alexander Dufford

Oregon Health & Science University

You can click a keyword to filter the displayed items

Notable Scholarly Works

Notable Federal Grants

Collaborators

Cascading Periods of Language-Related Brain Plasticity Across Early Childhood. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026)

Income Instability During Pregnancy Prospectively Relates to Postpartum Brain Function for Parent-Infant Bonding. Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2026)

Prenatal Household Income Instability and Infant Subcortical Brain Volumes. UNC Libraries (2026)

pediatricsearly life exposuresearly childhood developmentneurosciencedemographyhuman brainbrain structuredevelopmental cognitive neurosciencechild developmentsocioeconomic statuschild neurology

In Utero Chronic Cannabis Exposure is Associated With Lower Total Brain Volume in the First Month of Postnatal Life. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (2025)

Poverty and Socioeconomic Adversity in Relation to Child and Adolescent Health.. American Psychological Association eBooks (2025)

Alexander J. DuffordPilyoung KimGary W. Evans

pediatricspublic healthchild healthadolescent healthpovertysocioeconomic adversitysocial determinants of healthsocial epidemiologychild nutritionchild developmentsocioeconomic statuschild abuse

Caudate Volume is Prospectively Associated With Irritability in Toddlerhood: A Preliminary Investigation. Developmental Psychobiology (2024)

Alexander J. DuffordLeigha MacNeillYudong ZhangAshley NielsenChristopher SmyserJoan L. LubyCynthia E. RogersElizabeth NortonLauren Wakschlag

caudate volumeprimary investigationpreliminary investigationdevelopmental psychologydevelopmental biologychild development

Longitudinal Neuroanatomical Increases From Early to One-Year Postpartum. Brain Structure and Function (2024)

Alexander J DuffordGenevieve PattersonPilyoung Kim

neuroanatomyneuroscienceone-year postpartum

Maternal Cortisol Concentration is Associated With Reduced Brain Activation to Infant Cry and More Intrusive Parenting Behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2024)

Andrew ErhartSarah WatamuraAviva K OlsavskyAlexander DuffordRebekah TribbleTom YehPilyoung Kim

Quantifying Brain Development in the Healthy Brain and Child Development (Hbcd) Study: The Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Protocol. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2024)

Cannabis Use During Pregnancy and Hemodynamic Responses to Infant Cues in Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2023)

Shannon PowersXu HanJacqueline MartinezAlexander John DuffordTorri D. MetzTom YehPilyoung Kim

psychiatryexploratory studycannabis usepharmacologychild developmentmaternal healthhemodynamic responsesbehavioral sciences

1
2
3
4
10 / page