Rate My Professor Lianne Woodward

Professor Lianne Woodward is a Professor of Child Developmental Psychology at the University of Canterbury, where she serves in the School of Health Sciences and leads the Canterbury Child Development Research programme. She holds a doctorate in Psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of London. Her previous appointments include Director of Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; co-Director of the Intellectual Disabilities and Development Research Centre at Washington University in St Louis; and Head of School of Health Sciences at the University of Canterbury.

Professor Woodward’s research examines how early life experiences influence children’s brain and behavioural development, with particular focus on the effects of preterm birth, prenatal drug exposures, parenting, and family psychosocial adversity. She leads multiple longitudinal studies of diverse populations and participates in randomised controlled trials with international interdisciplinary teams. Her work advances understanding of the biopsychosocial mechanisms shaping children’s mental health, cognitive, academic, and social development, with the goal of informing intervention and prevention strategies to improve child health outcomes. Awards she has received include the HRC Liley Medal, the Condliffe Memorial Prize, the James Cook Fellowship, a Commonwealth Scholarship, the William Georgetti Scholarship, and a team leadership award from Mass General Brigham for establishing the Brigham Centre for Child Development.