Back to News

Epidemiologist to Receive President’s Medal for Science and Innovation

Academics posted

Driven by a conviction that all children should have the opportunity to realize their full potential, Trinity College alumna Kaja LeWinn ’98 has dedicated her work to studying the neurodevelopment and mental health of the youngest members of society.

For her lasting contributions to this research area, LeWinn, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, will receive the Trinity College President’s Award for Science and Innovation on October 30 at 4:30 p.m. in the Washington Room of Mather Hall.

Established by President Joanne Berger-Sweeney, the award recognizes individuals who have made significant advancements through STEM fields. The introduction of the award this year supports the College’s goal of elevating Trinity’s standing in the sciences nationally.

Following the medal ceremony, LeWinn will deliver a speech on the scope of her work, which integrates perspectives from epidemiology, psychology, and neuroscience to identify the modifiable physical and social exposures that matter most for child neurodevelopment and mental health in underrepresented and understudied populations.

Her talk, titled “Achieving equity in child mental health and neurodevelopment: integrating insights from epidemiology, neuroscience, and psychology,” is open to the public and will be livestreamed.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College with a major in behavioral neuroscience, LeWinn went on to earn a doctoral degree in social epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She was then selected for the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars program which brought her to San Francisco.

Kaja LeWinn with the ECHO PATHWAYS team.

LeWinn is a leader of several regional and national epidemiological studies, including the NIH funded ECHO Consortium, which includes over 60,000 U.S. children and their families. She has authored over 130 peer reviewed publications, and her work has been featured in The Atlantic, NPR, Fortune, and other news outlets.

The President’s Medal for Science and Innovation Advisory Committee, which includes prominent STEM faculty at Trinity College, leads the selection process, and recommends highly qualified candidates to the president. Recipients are not necessarily graduates of Trinity, but have made lasting contributions to their field.