Professor of Epidemiology

Stephen Buka joined Brown University in 1994 and the PSTC in 2015. With training in epidemiology and developmental psychology, he is an expert in the measurement of the key obstetric events and their effect on adult neuropsychiatric conditions and in childhood. His work focuses on the causes and prevention of major psychiatric and cognitive disorders of children, youth, and adults.

Current studies include investigations of prenatal risks for schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, and addictive disorders, including neuroimaging and molecular genetics techniques; work on the long-term effects of maternal smoking on offspring health and behavior; community-level influences on youth substance use and delinquency; and community-based strategies for the prevention of adolescent drinking and drug use.

Buka directs the New England Family Study, a 50-year, three-generation longitudinal study of 17,000 infants born in New England in the 1960s. This work provides a unique opportunity to identify both environmental and genetic factors that contribute to the etiology, and ideally prevention, of major forms of psychiatric illness and is supported by several major foundations and sections of the National Institutes of Health. He is also the PI of the National Children's Study sites in Providence County, RI, and Bristol County, MA. 

Selected Publications

Ball, S.W., Gilman, S.E., Mick, E., Fitzmaurice, G., Ganz, M.L., Seidman, L.J., Buka, S.L. Revisiting the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and ADHD. J Psychiatr Res. 2010. 44(15), 1058-1062. 

Donatelli, J.A., Seidman, L.J., Goldstein, J.M., Tsuang, M.T., Buka, S.L.  Children of parents with affective and nonaffective psychoses: a longitudinal study of behavior problems. Am J Psychiatry. 2010. 167(11), 1331-1338. 

Cerda, M., Rich-Edwards, J., Buka, S.L. Neighborhood influences on the association between maternal age and birth weight: A multilevel investigation of age-related disparities in health. Social Science Medicine. 2008. 66(9), 2048-2060. 

Scholarly Interests

Behavioral and psychiatric disorders, Birth complications, Environmental hazards, Maternal and child health, Substance use

Affiliated Departments

School of Public Health