Jodi Ford

Research Interests

Dr. Ford’s program of research focuses on (1) understanding the effects of the social environment (e.g. adversity and resilience) on neuroendocrine and immune biomarkers of stress, and ultimately, the physical and mental health outcomes of adolescents and young adults, and (2) the potential for neuroendocrine and immune biomarkers of stress to aid in the identification and management of mental health symptoms and outcomes. Her research is informed by her clinical background as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in primary care and is rooted in multilevel and life course theories.

Dr. Ford has expertise in analyzing secondary data from large complex surveys on the effect of the social environment (e.g. violence, social support) on health outcomes, including psychological distress and physiological stress among adolescents and young adults. This research has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar Program and OSU’s Institute for Population Research. In addition, Dr. Ford has expertise in primary collection of survey and stress biomarker data with adolescents and young adults, including vulnerable and hard to reach populations. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Linking Biological and Social Pathways to Adolescent Health and Well-Being study funded by NIH/NIDA (1R21DA034960) and seed grant support from OSU’s Institute for Population Research (NICHD P2C-HD058484, Casterline, PI). The study added the collection of stress biomarkers (neuroendocrine, immune, and telomere regulation) to the Adolescent Health and Development in Context study (NIDA 5R01DA025415, Browning, PI), a longitudinal cohort study on the effects of social and spatial exposures on adolescent health and wellbeing (N=1,400). Dr. Ford is also the PI of a longitudinal study funded by OSU’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science to examine exposure to violence (child abuse, street violence) on the stress biology and mental health of youth experiencing homelessness and a Co-Investigator on a NIH/NIDA funded randomized control trial testing a Housing First intervention linked with opioid prevention services for youth experiencing homelessness (UG3DA050174).