Dr. Sharon Dekel is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Psychiatry Department at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and is the Founding Director of the Postpartum Traumatic Stress Program. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her scientific work on characterizing childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD).

Dr. Dekel’s research, which has been continually supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), brings together clinical and developmental psychology, psychophysiology, neuroscience, and computational models to develop novel tools for the early identification and treatment of women at risk for postpartum psychopathology following traumatic experiences of childbirth. She leads large-scale clinical and translational investigations that aim to reveal the psychological and biological signatures of CB-PTSD and co-morbid impairments in maternal-infant attachment relationships. She also serves as the PI of the Nigerian Obstetric Wellness (NOW) study that assesses maternal postpartum adaptation in Africa.

Dr. Dekel is a two-time recipient of Harvard’s Mind Brain Behavior Faculty Award; MGH’s Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) Award; and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s Young Investigator Award. She has additionally received MGH’s Claflin Distingushed Scholar Award for Women in Science, and the Postpartum Support International Susan A. Hickman Memorial Research Award for excellence in scientific work on postpartum psychopathology. Her work on CB-PTSD research has also received substantial national media coverage on NPR, NBC News, The Atlantic, Psychology Today, Harper’s Bazaar, Goop, and elsewhere. Dr. Dekel is Chair of the Postpartum Trauma Special Interest Group of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), Co-Chair of the Birth Trauma Work Group of the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC), and she serves on the Board of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health. Dr. Dekel also has a private practice in which she treats peripartum individuals.