Megan Gunnar, PhD, a Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Institute of Child Development (ICD), has received a 2021 American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. The award, which was first made in 1956, recognizes senior scientists for distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology. It is typically given to only three scientists each year.

Gunnar is one of the nation’s leading researchers in child development and developmental psychobiology. Her work focuses on understanding how stress early in life “gets under the skin” to shape the body’s stress response systems and neurobehavioral development. Gunnar’s laboratory, the Human Developmental Psychobiology Lab, is dedicated to studying how the combination of temperament and experience shapes a child’s ability to manage stress as she or he grows up. Her work examines the physiological side of stress and the effects of early experiences, specifically international adoption and adverse early life care. Many of her studies involve collecting and analyzing cortisol, a hormone that helps individuals respond to stress.