Stephen Buka, Sc.D.
Professor and was Founding Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health.
Director of the Center for Population Health & Clinical Epidemiology, Public Health Program, Brown University
Director of the Center for the Study of Human Development, Brown University
Stephen Buka, Sc.D., M.Sc., M.A., is an epidemiologist and developmental psychologist whose work focuses on the causes, development and prevention of major psychiatric and cognitive disorders. Current studies include investigations of prenatal and childhood risks for schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder and addictive disorders, including neuroimaging and molecular genetics techniques; and community-level influences on youth substance use and delinquency. He directs the New England Family Study, a 60-year, three-generation longitudinal study of 17,000 infants born in New England in the 1960s and works with multiple state agencies in RI to translate this work into effective policies and programs for children, youth and their families.
Stephen Buka, ScD is Professor and was Founding Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Buka is an epidemiologist whose work centers on the causes and prevention of neuropsychiatric disorders. He has conducted extensive research in neuropsychology and psychiatric epidemiology, and has directed several major longitudinal studies examining the impact of birth complications, environmental hazards, and socioeconomic conditions on behavioral and intellectual development. He originated and directs the New England Family Study, which is a prospective, three-generation study of over 5000 participants from the Boston and Providence sites of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, which combines a family design, discordant sibling sets, molecular genetics and biological assays, psychiatric, neuropsychological and functional imaging assessments. Dr. Buka served as PI of the Providence, RI and Bristol County, MA sites of the National Children’s Study (NCS) and on the NCS Executive Steering Committee for 7 years. He has served on several Institute of Medicine expert committees and in advisory roles to multiple federal and state agencies.