Mission

The EASE Research Lab is dedicated to transforming how we diagnose and treat the biological consequences of early life stress and trauma. Exposure to chronic adversity in childhood is associated with a four-fold increase in depression, a 30-fold increase in suicide risk, and a markedly elevated risk of dementia, illustrating that stress can dramatically shape lifelong disease vulnerability. What elevates this to a public health emergency is that nearly 1 in 4 children today in the U.S. experience chronic levels of stress, but we currently lack a single diagnostic or therapeutic intervention to combat this immense problem.

One profound example, highlighted above, shows that the life expectancy in two neighborhoods just two miles apart within the city of Boston differs by 25 years, an entire generation! We believe that this is driven by childhood and lifetime exposures to environmental and social stressors that have a significant impact on overall lifespan

Co-led by Ravi Raju and Jason Zhang, the EASE Research Lab profiles the brain and its connection to the GI tract and gut microbiome in both human and preclinical models to uncover the molecular pathways through which environmental and social experiences impact health and well-being. By identifying these pathways, particularly those governing molecular and cellular functioning, we aim to provide a foundation for developing biomarkers and testing interventions designed to promote resilience and reverse stress-induced dysfunction.