Rachel Lean
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
- Phone: 314-273-0854
- Email: rachel.lean@nospam.wustl.edu
Education & Training
- Ph.D.: Washington University in St Louis, 2015
Major Awards
- Honorable Mention 2022 Gerald R. Klerman Award, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, 2022
- NIMH K01 Research Scientist Development Award, 2020
- NARSAD Young Investigator Award, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, 2019
Research Interests
Dr. Lean’s research focuses on the neurological and socioenvironmental mechanisms underlying the development of executive dysfunction and psychiatric disorders in at-risk groups of young children, including children born very preterm and children exposed to socioeconomic adversity. Dr. Lean is also interested in the identification of modifiable socioenvironmental factors that may support brain and socioemotional development in at-risk children, with a particular interest in parenting behavior and family functioning. Additionally, she has used structural and diffusion tensor imaging analyses in her research.
Recent Publications
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Neonatal Brain Volumes and Early Parenting Behavior as Mediators in Associations Between Prenatal Social Disadvantage and Socioemotional Problems in Toddlers
Leverett, S. D., Poolos, O., Brady, R. G., Tillman, R., Lean, R. E., Gerstein, E. D., Anaya, B., Triplett, R. L., Alexopoulos, D., Warner, B., Luby, J. L., Smyser, C. D., Rogers, C. E. & Barch, D. M., Mar 1 2026, In: Biological Psychiatry. 99, 5, p. 387-397 11 p.
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Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health Diagnoses Among Pediatric Patients With Turner Syndrome: A PEDSnet Study
Hutaff-Lee, C., Jolliffe, M., Swenson, K. S., Wakeman, H., Swain, D., Furniss, A., Nokoff, N., Hansen-Moore, J., Ikomi, C., Bamba, V., Lean, R. E., Leonard, S. & Davis, S. M., Feb 2026, In: American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A. 200, 2, p. 308-315 8 p.
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Social Determinants of Health, the developing brain, and risk and resilience for psychopathology
Lean, R. E., Constantino-Pettit, A., Gorham, L. S., Herzberg, M. P., Anaya, B., Rogers, C. E. & Luby, J. L., Jan 2026, In: Neuropsychopharmacology. 51, 1, p. 185-202 18 p.
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The auditory environment drives superior temporal sulcus depth in the neonatal period
Benjamin, L., Bacquet, M., Leroy, F., Mancuso, C., Lordier, L., Sa de Almeida, J., Gui, L., Lean, R. E., Rogers, C. E., Inder, T., Smyser, C. D., Hüppi, P. S. & Dehaene-Lambertz, G., Dec 2025, In: Brain Structure and Function. 230, 9, 177.
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Prenatal Adversity and Neonatal White Matter Microstructure Independently Relate to Language Outcomes at Age 2 Years
Bjork, J., Kenley, J. K., Gardner, C., Latham, A., Smyser, T. A., Miller, J. P., Shimony, J. S., Neil, J. J., Warner, B. B., Luby, J. L., Barch, D. M., Rogers, C. E., Smyser, C. D. & Lean, R. E., Oct 2025, In: Journal of Pediatrics. 285, 114676.