Brief Biography

Darlene Kertes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and is affiliated with the University of Florida Genetics Institute. Dr. Kertes focuses on the antecedents and consequences of stress in health and development. Her research examines the role of life experiences and epigenetic processes on activity of a stress-sensitive neuroendocrine system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system. Dr. Kertes further studies the genetic and gene-environment interaction effects on stress-related emotional and health outcomes from childhood through adulthood, including effects on depression and alcohol dependence. Dr. Kertes completed a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and an NRSA Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Kertes has received several nationally competitive awards to pursue her work, including awards from the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kertes also served at the National Institutes of Health as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), where she was involved in launching the Genes, Environment and Health Initiative.