Mary-Frances O'Connor
Mary-Frances O'Connor | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1973 Boulder, CO, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States
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| Alma mater | Northwestern University University of Arizona |
| Awards | Patricia R. Barchas Award in Sociophysiology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology Psychoneuroimmunology |
| Institutions | University of Arizona
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| Website | https://maryfrancesoconnor.org/ |
Mary-Frances O'Connor is an American psychologist who is a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona,[1] where she directs the Grief, Loss, and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab.
Early life and education
[edit]O'Connor was born in 1973 in Boulder, CO, USA. After graduating from Northwestern University, she attended graduate school at the University of Arizona earning a PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2004. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology[2] at UCLA, and held a faculty appointment at UCLA. She returned to the University of Arizona in 2012.
Career
[edit]O'Connor conducted the first fMRI neuroimaging study of bereavement, published in 2003.[3] As a neuroscientist, O'Connor takes the approach that "grieving can be thought of as a form of learning."[4] Learning is required to update the brain's prediction that the loved one will always be there, to the reality that they are truly gone, or the gone-but-also-everlasting hypothesis developed by O'Connor.[5]
O'Connor believes that a clinical science approach toward the experience and physiology of grief can improve psychological treatment.[6] Her research focuses on the neurobiological grief response to loss with function neuroimaging, cognitive tasks, and clinical interviews.
O'Connor contributes to work demonstrating that bereavement is a health disparity.[7]
In 2020, she organized a multidisciplinary research group called the Neurobiology of Grief International Network (NOGIN).[8] Under her leadership, the group has held four international conferences, with initial support provided by the National Institute on Aging.[9]
Honors and awards
[edit]- Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01), National Institute of Mental Health, 2007-2012[10]
- Fellow, Association for Psychological Science, 2019[11]
- NPR SciFri Book Club Pick[12]
- Next Big Idea Club's "Top 21 Psychology Books of 2022"[13]
- Behavioral Scientists Notable Books of 2022[14]
Books
[edit]O'Connor's book The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss was published in 2022[15] and has received praise from peers and literary critics.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mary-Frances O'Connor | Psychology". psychology.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ "Cousins | Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior". www.semel.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
- ^ Finkbeiner, Ann (2021-04-22). "The Biology of Grief". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ McCoy, Berly (December 20, 2021). "npr". NPR.
- ^ Wolf, Claudia Christine. "How the Brain Copes with Grief". Scientific American. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
- ^ Courage, Katherine Harmon (2021-07-01). "COVID Has Put the World at Risk of Prolonged Grief Disorder". Scientific American. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ "Grief: A Learning Curve and a Health Disparity | Arizona Alumni". alumni.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ "Neurobiology of Grief International Network". Neurobiology of Grief International Network. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
- ^ "Events". Neurobiology of Grief International Network. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ O'Connor, Mary-Frances. "Complicated Grief in Older Adults: Physiological Substrates of Emotion Regulation". Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.
- ^ "APS Fellows". member.psychologicalscience.org.
- ^ Plasker, Diana. "The Grieving Brain: SciFri Book Club Author Livestream And Q&A".
- ^ "The Top 26 Science Books of 2022". Next Big Idea Club.
- ^ Nesterak, Antonia Violante, Evan (June 30, 2022). "Behavioral Scientist's Summer Book List 2022 - By Antonia Violante & Evan Nesterak".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "DeFiore & Company". www.defliterary.com. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
- ^ Travers, Mark. "12 Books For Dealing With Grief, Bereavement Or Loss". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
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