While research and educational institutes across the country struggle to access federal funding, The Miriam Hospital was awarded $11.1 million in August from the National Institutes of Health to study the long-term impacts of childhood trauma. The funding will support the hospital’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience, or STAR COBRE, following an initial $11.1 million Phase I NIH grant awarded in 2021.
Now in Phase II, Laura R. Stroud, principal investigator and a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and her team are expanding on that work, having used their previous investment to support 19 early-career investigators, publish 351 scientific articles and secure more than $70 million in additional research funding.
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PBN: What drew you to the work of STAR COBRE and how did you first get involved with the center?
STROUD: I have spent my career studying how stress affects health across the lifespan and even across generations. In 2019, a small group of researchers came together with a shared goal of understanding, preventing and reversing the effects of early-life stress and trauma. What began as a collaborative research initiative evolved into the STAR COBRE, which received its first phase of funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2021. Building this center alongside such talented colleagues, community partners and investigators has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career.
PBN: How does STAR COBRE plan to divide and utilize NIH’s Phase II grant?
STROUD: Phase II funding will allow us to expand The Miriam Hospital’s research capacity and accelerate our impact both in Rhode Island and nationally. The grant will support several cutting-edge research projects, including one examining the interplay among stress biology, chronic pain and weight-related behaviors, and another focused on developing a trauma-informed care toolkit to reduce traumatic childbirth and improve postpartum maternal health.
Funding will also strengthen our research infrastructure, sustain our technology and community engagement cores, support educational programs such as our lecture series and annual symposium, and help recruit new researchers to The Miriam Hospital.
PBN: What would success look like for you in Phase II? What are the goals you’re most hoping to achieve?
STROUD: Success means advancing the science of stress, trauma and resilience while building a strong pipeline of future researchers. We want to support innovative, high-impact research led by emerging investigators, strengthen collaborations across disciplines and deepen partnerships with community organizations.
Just as importantly, we hope to expand our connections with complementary research centers across the country and create a collaborative environment that accelerates scientific discovery and translates findings into meaningful improvements in health.
PBN: STAR COBRE is a public health research center. Why is it important to categorize childhood trauma as not solely a mental health issue but a public health concern as well?
STROUD: Childhood trauma is not only a mental health issue. Research shows that the effects of early-life stress can become biologically embedded, increasing the risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and other long-term health challenges. Because its impact extends far beyond mental health and affects individuals, families and communities, childhood trauma should be recognized and addressed as a major public health concern.
PBN: What are the biggest unanswered questions about how childhood trauma and stress affect long-term health that you’re interested in answering?
STROUD: One of the most important questions is what drives resilience and why some individuals thrive despite experiencing significant adversity. We are also working to better understand which factors predict long-term health outcomes following childhood trauma and how those effects unfold over time.
Another key area of interest is how emerging technologies can help us determine when, how and where interventions can be most effective in building resilience. One of the strengths of STAR COBRE is its ability to evolve as science advances, allowing us to pursue new questions, generate innovative data and develop more effective prevention and intervention strategies over the course of the award.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a PBN staff writer. She can be reached at kannermascolo@pbn.com.
