{{Short description|American psychologist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Leah H. Somerville | workplaces = Harvard University | alma_mater = University of Wisconsin–Madison<br/>Dartmouth College | thesis_title = Physiological and neural mechanisms of anxiety, negativity, and threat. | thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/939402636 | thesis_year = 2008 }}
'''Leah H. Somerville''' is an American psychologist who is a professor at Harvard University. She is a member of the Human Connectome Project. Somerville was awarded the 2022 National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leah Somerville|url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/2022-awards/Somerville.html|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Somerville became interested in adolescent neurodevelopment due to her own experiences as a teenager. She spent four years volunteering as a teen crisis counsellor, and intended to pursue a career in social work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=F.J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Research Grant on Understanding the Human Mind|url=https://www.apa.org/apf/funding/mcguigan-grant-human-mind?tab=4|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.apa.org}}</ref> Whilst an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, she became interested in affective neuroscience.<ref>{{Cite web|title=OHBM2018 Keynote series: Q&A with Leah Somerville|url=http://www.ohbmbrainmappingblog.com/1/post/2018/05/ohbm2018-keynote-series-qa-with-leah-somerville.html|access-date=2022-01-26|website=ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING|language=en}}</ref> Somerville was eventually a doctoral student at Dartmouth College, where she studied the neural mechanisms of anxiety, negativity and threat.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Somerville|first=Leah|doi=10.1349/ddlp.183|title=Physiological and neural mechanisms of anxiety, negativity, and threat|department=Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences|institution=Dartmouth College|date=2008|language=English|oclc=939402636}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Leah Somerville receives F. J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Prize|url=https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2014/09/somerville-mcguigan|access-date=2022-01-28|website=www.apa.org}}</ref> After earning her doctoral degree, Somerville joined the Sackler Institute for Developmental Biology. During her postdoc she looked to combine an appreciation of development into emotion.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leah Somerville|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/rising-stars-2013/leah-somerville.html|access-date=2022-01-28|website=Association for Psychological Science - APS|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Research and career == In 2012, Somerville joined the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, where she leads the [https://andl.wjh.harvard.edu/ Affective Neuroscience & Development Laboratory] in the [http://cbs.fas.harvard.edu/ Center for Brain Science].<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Affective Neuroscience & Development Lab {{!}} Leah Somerville|url=https://andl.wjh.harvard.edu/people|access-date=2022-01-28|website=andl.wjh.harvard.edu}}</ref> Her research considers human emotion and the factors that explain variability in how people respond to emotions. Somerville is interested in how brain development influences psychological functioning. She has also studied how brain and psychological development interact during human adolescence.<ref>{{Citation|last=Behavior|first=Center for Law, Brain & Behavior|title=Leah Somerville: The Neuroscience|date=2015-03-17|url=https://vimeo.com/122451611|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Teens' self-consciousness linked with specific brain, physiological responses|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/799721|access-date=2022-01-28|website=EurekAlert!|language=en}}</ref> She believes that dynamic trajectories of brain development shape the interplay between these processes.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Janet Taylor Spence Award Recipients|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awards-and-honors/spence-recipients|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Association for Psychological Science - APS|language=en-US}}</ref>
Somerville was made an endowed Professor at Harvard University in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Affective Neuroscience & Development Lab {{!}} Leah Somerville|url=https://andl.wjh.harvard.edu/people|access-date=2022-01-28|website=andl.wjh.harvard.edu}}</ref> Somerville was awarded a Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=2022 Awards|url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/2022.html|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
== Awards and honors == * 2014 American Psychological Foundation FJ McGuigan Early Career Research Prize for Understanding the Human Mind<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=F.J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Research Grant on Understanding the Human Mind|url=https://www.apa.org/apf/funding/mcguigan-grant-human-mind?tab=4|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.apa.org}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Leah Somerville receives F. J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Prize|url=https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2014/09/somerville-mcguigan|access-date=2022-01-28|website=www.apa.org}}</ref> * 2014 American Psychological Association Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Janet Taylor Spence Award Recipients|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awards-and-honors/spence-recipients|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Association for Psychological Science - APS|language=en-US}}</ref> * 2022 National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=2022 Awards|url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/2022.html|access-date=2022-01-26|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
== Selected publications == * {{Cite Q|Q33624337}} * {{Cite Q|Q50983697}} * {{Cite Q|Q24601241}}
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Leah}} Category:21st-century American psychologists Category:Harvard University Department of Psychology faculty Category:American women psychologists Category:Living people Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)