Ruth Feldman

Ruth Feldman, PhD, is the Simms-Mann professor of social neuroscience and director of the Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience at Reichman University, Israel, the director of the Harris public clinic for young children and their families, and an adjunct professor at Yale University Child Study Center.

Her research focuses on the neurobiology of human attachments, processes of biobehavioral synchrony, and the biology of resilience. Her studies on the role of oxytocin, the parental brain, and the neuroscience of empathy have been instrumental in describing the biological basis of human social collaboration and widely published in the media. In several birth-to-adulthood studies she mapped the long-term effects of premature birth, maternal depression, and chronic trauma on brain and behavior. Dr. Feldman was named a highly-cited researcher, World Expert in parenting research, and is the recipient of the 2018 Graven’s March of Dimes Award for research on high-risk infants and the 2020 EMET prize, Israel’s highest prize in arts and sciences.