Lennisha Pinckney

Lennisha is currently a clinical psychology doctoral student at Loma Linda University’s School of Behavioral Health. She received her BA in Psychology from Spelman College and her MPH from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. Prior to joining the CARE Lab, Lennisha worked in various roles in the non-profit, academic, and public health sectors. In her most recent role, she worked as the clinical coordinator on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which is the largest longitudinal study of brain development and pediatric health in the country. Prior to working on the ABCD study, Lennisha was a research center manager for the County of Riverside, where she supervised a team of coordinators and statisticians while simultaneously handling all the administrative duties to ensure the continued success of the research center. Perhaps her most defining moment, which led her to want to pursue a career in clinical psychology, was when she learned of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) while matriculating through her fellowship in the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was at the CDC where she discovered the negative impact ACEs could have on children across the lifespan and wanted to engage in research that could help improve outcomes for children and adolescents well into adulthood.

Lennisha is passionate about helping children and youth to have the best outcomes possible despite experiencing trauma in these critical years of development. As such, she is interested in researching what protective factors can provide the best mental and physical health outcomes for children and youth who have experienced trauma, with an emphasis on communities that are underserved.