Alexander J. Dufford, Ph.D

  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine

Biography

Alexander J. Dufford, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist and developmental cognitive neuroscientist. Dr. Dufford’s research focuses on understanding the neural markers of risk for psychopathology for two generations: parent and child. Dr. Dufford’s lab uses neuroimaging to understand early brain development and how the parental brain adapts to the demands of parenthood. Dr. Dufford is also a faculty member for the OHSU Center for Mental Health Innovation where he focuses on the use of machine learning and Big Data to inform mental health prevention, intervention, and treatment.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 2013, Pennsylvania State University
    • Ph.D., 2019, University of Denver

Publications

Selected publications

  • Dufford, A.J., Hahn C., Peterson, H., Gini, S., Mehta, S., Alfano, A., Scheinost, D. (in press) (Un)common space in infant neuroimaging studies: a systematic review of infant templates. Human Brain Mapping.
  • Pollatou, A., Filippi, C. A., Aydin, E., Vaughn, K., Thompson, D., Korom, M., ... & Spann, M. (2022). An ode to Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neuroimaging: Chronicling early clinical to research applications with MRI, and an introduction to an academic society connecting the field. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 101083.
  • Korom, M., Camacho, M. C., Filippi, C. A., Licandro, R., Moore, L. A., Dufford, A.J., ... & Scheinost, D. (2021). Dear reviewers: Responses to common reviewer critiques about infant neuroimaging studies. Developmental Cognitive neuroscience, 101055.
  • Dufford, A.J., Spann M, Scheinost D. (2021) How prenatal exposures shape the infant brain: Insights from infant neuroimaging studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. Dec;131:47-58. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.017. Epub 2021 Sep 15. PMID: 34536461.
  • Dufford, A. J., Noble, S., Gao, S., & Scheinost, D. (2021). The instability of functional connectomes across the first year of life. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 51, 101007. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101007.
  • Kim, P., Chen, H., Dufford, A. J., Tribble, R., Gilmore, J., & Gao, W. (2021). Intergenerational Neuroimaging Study: Mother–Infant Functional Connectivity Similarity and the Role of Infant and Maternal Factors. Cerebral Cortex.
  • Dufford, A. J., Salzwedel, A. P., Gilmore, J. H., Gao, W., & Kim, P. (2021). Maternal trait anxiety symptoms, frontolimbic resting‐state functional connectivity, and cognitive development in infancy. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(6), e22166.
  • Grande, L. A., Olsavsky, A. K., Erhart, A., Dufford, A. J., Tribble, R., Phan, K. L., & Kim, P. (2021). Postpartum Stress and Neural Regulation of Emotion among First-Time Mothers. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 1-17.
  • Dufford, A. J. (2021). Prenatal Depressive Symptoms, Cortical Morphology, and Reward Sensitivity in Preschoolers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
  • Dufford, A. J., Evans, G. W., Liberzon, I., Swain, J. E., & Kim, P. (2021). Childhood socioeconomic status is prospectively associated with surface morphometry in adulthood. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(5), 1589-1596.
  • Kim, P., Tribble, R., Olsavsky, A. K., Dufford, A. J., Erhart, A., Hansen, M., ... & Gonzalez, D. M. (2020). Associations between stress exposure and new mothers’ brain responses to infant cry sounds. Neuroimage, 223, 117360.