Lauren Shomaker, PhD

Lauren Shomaker, PhD, is a clinical psychologist with expertise in adolescent health. She is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Colorado State University and has affiliate appointments in the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Shomaker teaches courses and conducts workshops on adolescent development, provides clinical care to adolescents living with diabetes, trains postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers, and conducts research centered on the role of social and psychological stress in adolescents’ risk for developing metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

She is particularly interested in how we can intervene with adolescents to mitigate the adverse impacts of stress on mental and physical health, particularly among adolescents of color and families living on a low income, who unjustly shoulder the burden of preventable chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart diseases. Toward this end, she has led a series of behavioral clinical trials in adolescents, which encompass pilot/feasibility studies, efficacy trials, and more recently, community-engaged effectiveness and pragmatic trials carried out in community and health care settings.

Shomaker’s recent projects include interventions for depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents at-risk for diabetes, including a variety of approaches such as cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, mindfulness-based, and family-inclusive lifestyle-based modalities. Shomaker greatly enjoys mentoring early-career faculty and scientists and supporting the next generation of clinician researchers to lead (and enjoy leading!) significant and innovative science.