Dr. Elisabeth Conradt

Biography

Elisabeth D. Conradt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at Duke University. She is a clinical developmental psychologist whose mission is to promote infant and early childhood mental health. Her scientific focus is on understanding the intergenerational transmission of risk for mental health problems. Her laboratory documents exposures to pregnant individuals across a lifespan and examines the impacts of pregnancy and preterm birth risk on newborn neurodevelopment and vulnerability to psychopathology. Dr. Conradt's research highlights emotional dysregulation as a transdiagnostic, early-emerging marker of risk for a wide range of psychiatric outcomes, including ADHD, mood disorders, and bipolar disorder. She investigates how emotional dysregulation—considered a modifiable intervention target—emerges early in development to inform preventive interventions that ideally begin prenatally or during the first year of life. Furthermore, she explores the associations between prenatal substance exposure and environmental factors that affect neurodevelopment and mental health outcomes in early childhood. Dr. Conradt's overarching goal is to leverage scientific knowledge to prevent intergenerational transmission of mental health issues. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon and completed her clinical internship in Early Childhood Mental Health at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Conradt's work has been featured in various media outlets, including NPR, and has earned her multiple national and international early-career research awards.

Research Interests

Experience