Director's Page
Jean A. King, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
Vice Chair of Research
Director, Center for Comparative NeuroImaging (CCNI)
Dr. King joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass) after teaching at Spelman College in Atlanta and Post- Doctoral training at Emory University. At UMass, she rose from Associate Professor to Professor, which she was awarded in 2007. She served as mentor for over 40 students at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels. She also serves as Vice Chair of Research and the Director of the Center for Comparative NeuroImaging in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Dr. King has received research grant support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Center for Disease Control, and the American Association of University Women, among others. With this research support she has made seminal contributions to the body of scientific knowledge, including the discovery that early stress can have profound consequences in adulthood and that non-invasively imaging the brains of these patients can provide clues as to accurate diagnosis and consequently proper treatment strategies. Dr. King has also worked with magnetic imaging technologies and has been granted a patent for discoveries in this area with others pending. Besides administering several nationally funded grant projects as principal investigator, Dr. King serves the key administrative position as Director of the Center for Comparative NeuroImaging at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Vice-Chair of Research.
Dr. King holds a doctorate in neurophysiology from New York University and a master’s degree in cell biology from the City University of New York, both with distinction. She is a graduate (magna cum laude) of St. Francis College in New York. She has published numerous original scientific papers in highly respected international scientific journals, over 10 chapters in books and review articles in major neurophysiology journals, and is an editor of the recently published book Roots of Mental Illness in Children. She has been a scientific consultant for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health as well as the Veterans Administration. Dr. King has served as editorial consultant for the several scientific journals, including Hormones and Behavior, Neuropsychoendocrinology, Neuropsychobiology and Biological Psychiatry.
Dr. King has been awarded numerous honors, including the Porter Development Fellowship from the American Physiological Society; Siebert Fellowship Award from the American Association of University Women, NIH Post-Doctoral Fellowship and two U.S. patents. Dr. King serves on numerous boards including YWCA, and Girls Inc., Ecotarium (Science Museum) and as a cooperator at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.
Most significantly, Jean King has been actively involved in building stronger and healthier communities. She has therefore served as the first NIH Committee to start a Research on Women’s Health initiative; she served as chair of the American Psychological Association Stress Panel and was the youngest woman to chair of The National Black Women’s Health Project (a women’s health policy organization in 33 states and 7 countries). Most recently, Jean King has served the Daybreak Resources for Women and Children at several levels and has been awarded the Erskine award for medicine by the YWCA (2004).
Jean King continues to do community service while honoring her research and teaching commitment and responsibilities as Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Center of Comparative NeuroImaging at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Vice-Chair of Research. Dr. King has distinguished herself as a research scientist and scholar, as well as administrator and community activist.