Researcher | Research Overview
B. Heidi Ellis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also the Director of the Trauma and Community Resilience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Ellis' primary focus is on understanding and promoting youth mental health and well-being, with a particular emphasis on understanding how trauma exposure, violence, and social context impact developmental trajectories. Over the past 15 years she has conducted a Community Based Participatory Research program with Somali youth and was Principal Investigator of a multi-site, longitudinal research project examining developmental pathways to and away from violence, including ideological violence, gang involvement, and civic engagement. She is also conducting research to advance a public health approach to preventing violent extremism across the ideological spectrum. Dr. Ellis is co-developer of the trauma treatment model Trauma Systems Therapy, and is engaged in capacity building and training related to trauma-informed multidisciplinary approaches to the repatriation and reintegration of children from formerly ISIS-controlled territories. She also directs the Massachusetts Area Prevention Framework, a multidisciplinary team approach to preventing targeted violence and terrorism among adolescents.
Researcher | Research Background
Dr. Heidi Ellis received her B.A. from Yale University, her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Ellis is currently the Director of the Trauma and Community Resilience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.