Ronald E. Dahl, MD
- Founding Director, Center for the Developing Adolescent
Biography
Ron Dahl is a pediatrician, developmental scientist, and professor of Public Health at UC Berkeley. For more than 30 years he has worked with interdisciplinary research teams to advance understanding of child and adolescent development, behavioral/emotional health in youth, adolescent brain development, and the clinical, public health, and policy implications of this research—work that has resulted in more than 300 publications. He began his career at the University of Pittsburgh where he served on the faculties of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology. He moved to UC Berkeley in 2010 where he served as the Director, Institute of Human Development for twelve years. He is the Founding Director of the Center for the Developing Adolescent (now located at UCLA), a member of the National Scientific Council in Adolescence, and is past President of the Society for Research on Child Development. He has been elected as a Fellow of several organizations including: Association for Psychological Science, American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He was the recipient of the 2026 Huttenlocher Award in recognition of transformative contributions to the field that inspires future generations of researchers through unique insights about developmental cognitive neuroscience.
Research Interests
- Adolescent Brain Development
- Emotion Regulation
- Early Intervention and Prevention
- Global Adolescent Health
- Developmental Science of Adolescence
Education
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MD – Medicine
University of Pittsburgh, 1984 -
BS – Biophysics
Pennsylvania State University, 1979 -
BA – Liberal Arts
Pennsylvania State University, 1979