Cynthia Rogers

Cynthia Rogers

Blanche F Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry

Education & Training


  • Fellowship: Child Psychiatry: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2010
  • Residency: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2008
  • MD: Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 2005
  • BA: Psychology: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1998

Major Awards


  • St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund Dr. John M. Anderson Excellence in Mental Health Award, 2019
  • Elected Associate Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2018
  • JAACAP Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation Award for Research in Depression or Suicide, 2017
  • Eli Robins Award, for excellence in research and clinical psychiatry, Washington University Department of Psychiatry, 2010
  • APA American Psychiatric Leadership Fellow (formerly GlaxoSmithKline fellowship) 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, 2005

Areas of Clinical Interest


Evaluation of social and emotional development in preterm toddlers and preschoolers.
Treatment and evaluation of Perinatal Psychiatric disorders.
Evaluation and treatment of psychiatric illness in high risk toddlers and preschoolers.

Research Interests


Neuroimaging biomarkers of abnormal social and emotional development in high risk infant populations.

Effects of adverse environmental factors like poverty, parental psychopathology, dysfunctional parenting, racial discrimination on neonatal brain development and childhood psychopathology.

Key Publications


    • Rogers CE, Sylvester CM, Mintz C, Kenley JK, Shimony JS, Barch DM, Smyser CD, (2017 Feb). Neonatal Amygdala Functional Connectivity at Rest in Healthy and Preterm Infants and Early Internalizing Symptoms. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 56(2): 157-166.
      Read publication »Neonatal Amygdala Functional Connectivity at Rest in Healthy and Preterm Infants and Early Internalizing Symptoms.
    • Rogers CE, Lenze SN, Luby JL, (2013 Mar). Late preterm birth, maternal depression, and risk of preschool psychiatric disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 52(3): 309-18.
      Read publication »Late preterm birth, maternal depression, and risk of preschool psychiatric disorders.
    • Regional white matter development in very preterm infants: perinatal predictors and early developmental outcomes. Rogers CE, Smyser T, Smyser CD, Shimony J, Inder TE, Neil JJ. Pediatr Res. 2016 Jan; 79(1-1)87-95. doi: 10.1038/pr.2015.172.
    • Cortical Gray and Adjacent White Matter Demonstrate Synchronous Maturation in Very Preterm Infants. Smyser TA, Smyser CD, Rogers CE, Gillespie SK, Inder TE, Neil JJ. Cereb Cortex. 2015 Jul 24; pii: bhv164.
    • Altered gray matter volume and school age anxiety in children born late preterm. Rogers CE, Barch DM, Sylvester CM, Pagliaccio D, Harms MP, Botteron KN, Luby JL J Pediatr. 2014 Nov; 165(5)928-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.06.063.
    • Hartz SM, Bierut LJ (2010 Mar). Genetics of addictions. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 33(1): 107-24.
      Read publication »Genetics of addictions.

    Funded Research Projects


    NIH(PI):Optimizing Prediction of Preschool Psychopathology from Birth: A Big Data, Cognitive Neuroscience Approach

    NICHD(Significant Contributor):Neonatal Inflammation and Gut Microbial Influences on Neurodevelopment
    Administration for Children and Families(Significant Contributor):Healthy Children/Healthy Families: The St. Louis Perinatal Resource Collaborative

    NIDA(PI:1/2 – Optimizing access, engagement and assessment to elucidate prenatal influences on neurodevelopment: The Brains Begin Before Birth (B4) Midwest Consortium

    NIMH(Significant Contributor):Neonatal Brain Activity and Risk for Anxiety Disorders in Early Childhood

    NICHD(Significant Contributor):Washington University Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center

    NIMH (PI):Optimizing prediction of preschool psychopathology from brain: behavior markers of emotion dysregulation from birth: a computational, developmental cognitive neuroscience approach

    NIDA(PIr):3/7: Longitudinal Evaluation of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on High-Risk New and Expectant Mothers

    NIMH(Significant Contributor):Early Life Adversity, Biological Embedding, & Risk for Developmental Precursors of Mental Disorders

    NIMH(PI):The Preterm Behavioral Phenotype: Trajectories of Psychopathology & Changes in Cerebral Connectivity

    NICHD(Significant Contributor):The Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy Research and Training (CICM)

    NIDA(PI):Prenatal Cannabis Use (PCU), Pregnancy, and Development of Offspring Brain and Behavior during Early Life (0-18 months)

    NIA(Significant Contributor):Intergenerational Transmission of Stress: Psychosocial and Biological Mechanisms