H Harrington (Bo) Cleveland
Associate Professor of Human DevelopmentGene Environment Research Initiative Co-Director
110 Henderson Bldg SouthUniversity Park , PA 16802
Biography:
Dr. Cleveland’s research focuses on the intersection of genetic and environmental influences. He is particularly interested in the contextual moderation of both genetic and shared environmental influences on adolescent risk behaviors. A related interest is using genetically informative designs to examine causal hypotheses and putative mechanisms regarding the links between adolescent experiences and later outcomes, both positive and negative. Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Cleveland published a series of studies that suggest evocative and active G-E correlations involving received parenting and exposure to peer substance use. He has extended this line of research at Penn State by leading the efforts (with David Vandenbergh and Mark Feinberg) to add candidate genes to the PROSPER study (developed by Mark Greenberg). Adding candidate genes (e.g., DRD4, DAT1) to the quasi-experimental design of PROSPER creates a novel opportunity to examine gene-environment transactions involving family and peer contexts from early adolescence to young adulthood.
