Rate My Professor Assaf Oshri

Assaf Oshri is the Director of the Georgia Center for Developmental Science and Samuel A. and Sharon Y. Nickols Endowed Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia, where he also holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Psychology. He earned a B.A. in Behavioral Sciences from Ben-Gurion University in Israel in 2000, a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Florida International University in 2009, and completed postdoctoral training in Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Rochester in 2011. Oshri joined the University of Georgia as an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Family Science in 2013, advancing to Associate Professor in 2017 and Full Professor in 2024. He previously served as Director of the Graduate Program in the department from 2020 to 2023 and as a Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 2022 to 2023. Earlier positions include Research Faculty at Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester from 2011 to 2013.

Oshri's research examines youth development of risk and resilience, focusing on multi-level mechanisms linking early-life adversity—such as child maltreatment, poverty, and racial discrimination—to adolescent behavioral risks including substance use and psychopathology. Employing methods like neuroimaging, psychophysiology, behavioral observations, and surveys, his work is informed by developmental systems theories and the Psychosocial Model of Hormesis, which posits that moderate stressors in supportive contexts foster resilience. He directs the Stress, Trauma, Adversity & Resilience (STAR) workgroup at the University of Georgia's Owens Institute for Behavioral Research. Oshri has received the University of Georgia's Creative Research Medal in 2023, Early Career Faculty Research Award in 2015, and an NIH K01 Career Award from NIDA (2018–2023). He is Principal Investigator on two NIDA R01 grants totaling over $6 million (2023–2028) investigating neuroecological models of early adversity and drug use vulnerability. Key publications include 'Racial discrimination and risk for internalizing and externalizing symptoms among Black youths' (JAMA Network Open, 2024), 'Strengthening through adversity: The hormesis model in developmental psychopathology' (Development and Psychopathology, 2024), 'The Hormesis Model for Building Resilience Through Adversity' (Review of General Psychology, 2022), and 'Growth patterns of future orientation among maltreated youth' (Developmental Psychology, 2018). His contributions advance prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk youth.