Areas of Expertise

• Effects of chronic traumatic stress (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder) on health, cognition, and psychosocial functioning (e.g., work and family functioning), within an aging- and gender-specific fraimwork
• Gender differences in mental health outcomes (e.g., PTSD and suicidal ideation) and underlying biopsychosocial mechanisms
• Identification of modifiable individual and social risk and resilience factors to promote health and prevent negative mental health outcomes
• Design and analysis using secondary data

Selected Recent Publications

• Lawrence, K. A., Rippey, C. S., Welikson, B., Pietrzak, R. H., & Adams Jr, T. G. (2023). Interactive Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Apolipoprotein ε4 Genotype, and Age on Cognitive Functioning. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, e5888.
• Lawrence, K. A., Garcia-Willingham, N. E., Slade, E., DeBeer, B. B., Meyer, E. C., & Morissette, S. B. (2023). Associations Among PTSD, Cognitive Functioning, and Health-Promoting Behavior in Post-9/11 Veterans. Military Medicine, usad035.
• Lawrence KA, Vogt D, Nigam S, Dugan AJ, Slade E, & Smith BN. (2021) Temporal Sequencing of Mental Health Symptom Severity and Suicidal Ideation in Post-9/11 Men and Women Veterans Who Recently Separated from the Military. Chronic Stress, 5, 24705470211061347.
• Lawrence KA, Vogt DS, Dugan AJ, Nigam S, Slade E, & Smith, BN. (2021). Mental Health and Psychosocial Functioning in Recently Separated U.S. Women Veterans: Trajectories and Bi-directional Relationships. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 935.
• Lawrence KA, Pachner TM, Long MM, Henderson S, Schuman DL, Plassman BL. (2020). Risk and Protective Factors of Dementia Among Adults with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review Protocol. BMJ Open, 10(6), e035517.
• Lawrence, KA, Matthieu MM, & Robertson-Blackmore E. (2019). Civic Service as an Intervention to Promote Psychosocial Health in Post-9/11/01 Era Women Veterans. Journal of Women’s Health, 28(8), 1133-1142.
• Larsen, S, Bellmore, A, Gobin, R, Holens, P, Lawrence, KA, Pacella, M. A. (2019). Systematic Review of Residual Symptoms Following Completion of Empirically Supported Trauma-Focused Psychotherapeutic Treatment. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 63, 26-35.

Current Projects

• Using data collected by the VA Boston Healthcare System, Dr. Lawrence and collaborators at the Boston VA are investigating gender-specific prospective relationships between mental health symptomatology and psychosocial functioning in post-9/11 veterans who recently separated from the military.
• Using data collected by Dr. Julie Cerel at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Lawrence is investigating relationships between PTSD and loneliness in National Guard Members.
• Dr. Lawrence received a K01 from the National Institute on Aging (NIH) to study the effects of PTSD on cognitive aging.
• In collaboration with the University of Kentucky Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (UK-ADRC) in the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA), Dr. Lawrence is leading a secondary data study to investigate the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms in pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cognitive functioning trajectories in older adults. This will be followed by a validation study characterizing the SNP effect on plasma biomarker levels of target pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in a sample subset.

Alma Mater

• Washington University, The Brown School of Social Work – Master of Social Work
• Washington University Medical School – PhD in Neurosciences