Susan Smalley
Encyclopedia
Dr. Susan Smalley was born February 18, 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana
of Psychiatry
and Founder and Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics and Childhood Psychopathology at UCLA, as well, and is a founding member of the College of Medical Genetics.
She is an international speaker on the Science of Mindfulness and co-author of the book, Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness with co-author Diana Winston (Da Capo Publishiing). Smalley has contributed articles to the Los Angeles Times magazine, and as a regular online contributor to the Huffington Post and Psychology Today.
, creator of Live Earth
and they have three children. She currently resides in Beverly Hills.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
Professional Experience
She is ProfessorProfessor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and Founder and Director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics and Childhood Psychopathology at UCLA, as well, and is a founding member of the College of Medical Genetics.
Behavioral Genetics
As a behavior geneticist, Dr. Smalley spent 20 years researching the genetic influences of human behavior, conducting gene-mapping studies in autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Supported through NIMH grants, her lab conducted the first genome-wide scan in ADHD localizing likely risk genes in this condition to chromosome regions on 16p13 and 5p13 among others. Further research lent support for an overlap of autism and ADHD by genome-scan data and Smalley suggested that the overlap of these conditions might be related to atypical cerebral asymmetry observed in both conditions. Smalley’s research on ADHD includes investigation of personality factors that are associated with ADHD, including novelty-seeking and self-transcendence, aspects of personality that may be associated with creativity. She has been an advocate of viewing ADHD as an extreme on a continuum of functioning that might be best viewed as part of neurodiversity in general, albeit often associated with impairment.MARC
Dr. Smalley founded the Mindful Awareness Research Center (www.marc.ucla.edu). The center's mission is to increase mindful awareness through research and teaching to promote a more compassionate society. They offer classes and workshops within the university and to the general public on mindfulness, including free drop-in classes at the UCLA Hammer museum. Through the MARC center, Smalley conducted research on whether mindfulness meditation might help adults and teens with ADHD in an early pilot study looking at mindfulness as a complementary practice in helping with symptoms and attention in this condition. The study suggested that mindfulness practice is likely beneficial in ADHD, both improving mood, reducing anxiety, and helping with attentional focus. In addition to ADHD research and mindfulness, Smalley conducted a study looking at the application of mindfulness in children and its effect on executive functioning. The study supported a role for mindfulness practices in young children (2nd/3rd graders) and that it can prove beneficial for increasing excutive functioning (EF), especially in children having challenges with EF.She is an international speaker on the Science of Mindfulness and co-author of the book, Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness with co-author Diana Winston (Da Capo Publishiing). Smalley has contributed articles to the Los Angeles Times magazine, and as a regular online contributor to the Huffington Post and Psychology Today.
Education
She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology at UCLA. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Genetics and Childhood Psychopathology and was board certified in Medical Genetics.Personal
Dr Susan (Sue) Smalley is married to Kevin WallKevin Wall
Kevin Wall, born March 15, 1952 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a producer, digital entrepreneur and environmentalist who creates and produces global events often viewed by a billion or more people...
, creator of Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
and they have three children. She currently resides in Beverly Hills.