Sherika N Hill
Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences


As a clinical epidemiologist, I have a biopsychosocial research program that focuses on social predictors, biological mechanisms, and outcomes related to pediatric mental health and well-being. I work primarily with cohorts of vulnerable populations defined by low socioeconomic status, rural geography, minority race/ethnicity, chronic childhood health conditions, and more recently child maltreatment. Increasingly, I am utilizing biomedical research to better understand DNA methylation (DNAm) in the first years of life as an epigenetic marker of health-risk,-resilience, and -disparities across the life course.

Current Research Interests

From a developmental science perspective, my research seeks to understand how mental health conditions or high, risk-taking behaviors in adolescence develop over time from birth and impact outcomes later in adulthood. Moreover, I am interested in how public policy can positively affect child development trajectories, especially for vulnerable populations.

Office Hours

Duke Ofc: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress: 1121 W. Chapel Hill St., Suite 201 Durham
UNC-CH Ofc: Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute: 105 Smith Level Rd, Chapel Hill

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Contact Information

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