RESEARCH

Madeline’s doctoral research centered on developmental affective neuroscience with a focus on understanding the neurobiology of attachment and how parenting shapes the developing brain. Her current research is centered on (a) suicide prevention in inpatient and community-based settings and (b) organizational interventions rooted in trauma-informed care.

Current Research: 

TEACHERS LEADING THE FRONTLINES (TEALEAF)

  • Research synopsis:“Education as Mental Health Therapy” as a Feasible Form of Teacher-Delivered Child Mental Health Care.

  • Principal Investigator: Christina Cruz, M.D., Ed.M.

  • Role: Team Lead for implementation of Tealeaf in North Carolina

 Practice Experiences for School Reintegration (PRES-R)                              

  • Research synopsis: An Immersive Virtual Reality Program to Enhance Skill Development of Adolescents Hospitalized for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

  • Principal Investigator: Marisa Marraccini, Ph.D.

  • Role: liason with inpatient units (e.g., assessment of clinical fit, coordination with research & treatment teams)

PARENT EVALUATION PROGRAM (PEP)

  • Research synopsis: A model to safely increase reunification rates and decrease time in foster care by engaging parents in a trauma-informed comprehensive clinical assessment

  • Principal Investigator: Echo Meyer, Ph.D.

  • Role: data analysis yielding review & recommendation for stakeholders

Publications

  1. Farber, M.J., Gee, D.G., Hariri, A.R. (2020). Normative range parenting and the developing brain: a scoping review and recommendations for future research. Eur. J. Neurosci.

  2. Gold, A.L., Abend, R., Britton, J.C., Behrens, B., Farber, M.J., Ronkin, E., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D.S. (2020). Age differences in the neural correlates of anxiety disorders: An fMRI study of response to learned threat. Am J Psych.

  3. Kim, M.J., Farber, M.J., Knodt, A.R., Hariri, A.R. (2019). Corticolimbic Circuit Structure Moderates an Association Between Early Life Stress and Later Trait Anxiety. Neuroimage: Clinical.

  4. Farber, M.J., Romer, A.R., Knodt, A.R., Hariri, A.R. (2019). Maternal Overprotection in Childhood is Associated with Amygdala Reactivity and Structural Connectivity in Adulthood. Dev Cog Neuro.

  5. Farber, M.J., Romer, A.R., Kim, M.J., Knodt, A.R., Elsayed, N.M., Williamson, D.E., Hariri, A.R. (2018). Paradoxical Associations Between Higher Familial Warmth, Lower Stress, and Increased Amygdala Reactivity to Interpersonal Threat. Emotion.

  6. Gold, A. L., Shechner, T., Farber, M. J., Spiro, C. N., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D. S. and Britton, J. C. (2016), Amygdala–Cortical Connectivity: Associations with Anxiety, Development, and Threat. Depress Anxiety, 33: 917–926.

  7. Dorfman, J., Benson, B., Farber, M., Pine, D., & Ernst, M. (2016). Altered striatal intrinsic functional connectivity in pediatric anxiety. Neuropsychologia, 85, 159–168.

Invited Talks

Society for Psychophysiological Research (2018, Quebec):

Symposium: Diathesis Stress Across the Lifespan: Measuring Markers of Risk for Psychopathology from Infancy to Adulthood.

Presentation: Parental Control, Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry, and Future Mood

Presentations

  • Pandya, U., Farber, M.J., Daffre, C., Strauman, T.J., Brewster, A.B. (2020, August). Neural markers of metacognition before and after “curriculum as intervention”. Poster presented at Duke University, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Vertical Integration Program culminating meeting, Durham, NC.

  • Zucker, N., Rivera-Cancel, A., Datta, N., Erwin, S., Nicholas, J., Caldwell, K.A., Ives, L., Romer, A., Marsan, S., Farber, M.J., Maslow, G. (2020, May). Feeling and Body Investigators: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Treatment for Young Children with Functional Abdominal Pain. Poster presented at Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Remote Meeting due to COVID-19.

  • Paschall, K.A., Farber, M.J., Cooke, M.E. (2019, August). Associations Among Conscientiousness, Actual Stress, and Perceived Stress. Poster presented at Duke University, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Vertical Integration Program culminating meeting, Durham, NC.

  • Jackson, S.K., Farber, M.J., Strauman, T.J. (2018, August). Like Mother. Like Child? The Role of Maternal Depression on Future Child Internalizing Symptoms. Poster presented at Duke University, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Vertical Integration Program culminating meeting, Durham, NC.

  • Farber, M.J., Romer, A.L., Elliott, M.L., Radtke, S.R., Knodt, A.R., Hariri, A.R. (2017, May). Family functioning and amygdala reactivity to threat: affective responsiveness as a protective buffer. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Sciences and Cognitive Therapies 29th Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

  • Farber, M.J., Gold, A.L., Averbeck, B., Shechner, T.S., Britton, J.C., Pine, D.S. (2016, June). Using computational modeling to assess fear learning in pediatric anxiety disorders. Presented at NIMH intramural group meeting, Emotion and Development Branch, Bethesda, MD.

  • Farber, M.J., Gold, A.L., Ronkin, E., Britton, J.C., Leibenluft, E., Pine, D.S. (2015, Nov). Threat appraisal during extinction recall in pediatric and adult anxiety disorders: an fMRI replication study. Poster presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 49th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

  • Farber, M. J (2013, Nov). The negative side effects of atypical antipsychotics. Poster presented at the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board 3rd Annual Fall Research Forum, Ithaca, NY. 

Doctoral Research

Advisors

Ahmad Hariri, Ph.D. & Tim Strauman, Ph.D.

Dissertation

  • Title: Normative range parenting & the developing brain: Investigating the functional & structural neural correlates of parenting in the absence of trauma.

  • Proposal Date: March 2020

  • Defense Date: April 2021

Master’s Thesis

  • Title: Normal range parenting and the developing brain: A scoping review of the literature.

  • Defense Date: April 2018

Pre-doctoral Research

National Institute of Mental Health

Advisor: Daniel Pine, M.D. | Laboratory: Section on Affective Developmental Neuroscience (SDAN)

Cornell University

Advisor: Tamar Kushnir, Ph.D. | Laboratory: Early Childhood Cognition Laboratory (ECCL)