Shelli Avenevoli

Shelli Avenevoli
Alma mater	Temple University
Scientific career
Fields	Epidemiology
Institutions	National Institute of Mental Health
Thesis	The continuity of depression from childhood to adolescence  (1998)
Doctoral advisor	Laurence Steinberg

Shelli Avenevoli is an American psychologist and epidemiologist. She was the acting director of the National Institute of Mental Health from June 2024 to April 2025. She is a co-investigator on the National Comorbidity Study. ^{[1] [2]}

Education

Avenevoli received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Temple University. ^[3] Her 1998 dissertation was titled The continuity of depression from childhood to adolescence. Avenevoli's doctoral advisor was Laurence Steinberg. ^[4]

Avenevoli completed an National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. ^[3]

Career

In 2001, Avenevoli joined the NIMH intramural research program as a staff scientist in the Section of Developmental Genetic Epidemiology of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program. In 2005, she moved to the NIMH division of extramural research as chief of the Emotion, Mood, and Depressive Disorders Program. In 2008, Avenevoli became chief of the Developmental Trajectories of Mental Disorders Branch. ^[3] In this role, she developed NIMH’s translational neurodevelopmental research portfolio and a research program on bipolar disorder and early, chronic irritability in children. ^[5] Avenevoli is involved in NIMH efforts, including revising the strategic plan, re-defining the Institute’s approach to supporting research in neurodevelopment and bipolar disorder, and serving as a liaison to other agencies for special initiatives. Avenevoli is acting director of NIMH. ^[6] She is a co-investigator on the National Comorbidity Study. ^[5]

References

1. "News - Announcing IACC Chair Dr. Shelli Avenevoli | IACC". iacc.hhs.gov. Retrieved 2026-02-01.
2. "Alumna Dedicated to Improving Mental Health for Youth". www.slu.edu. 2025-09-24. Retrieved 2026-02-01.
3. "NIMH » About NIMH Deputy Director Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D." www.nimh.nih.gov. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
4. Avenevoli, Shelli (1998). The continuity of depression from childhood to adolescence (Ph.D. thesis). Temple University. OCLC   475122359. ProQuest   304456574.
5. "Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D." National Institutes of Health. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-06. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
6. "About the Acting NIMH Director - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)". www.nimh.nih.gov. 2024-09-30. Retrieved 2024-12-02.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Institutes of Health.

External links

• Shelli Avenevoli's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
• Appearances on C-SPAN