Reubs Walsh, MSc

Reubs J Walsh is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Walsh’s PhD research examines the role of the social environment and social-cognitive development in mental health risk, mostly in a community sample of adolescents, but also in autistic and trans populations. They have also undertaken collaborative projects investigating such diverse topics as the neuropsychology of political conflict, adolescent neuroendocrinology in social cognition, transgender mental and physical health, and clinical best-practice. After her PhD, Walsh will move to the University of Toronto to investigate how biopsychosocial processes related to sex/gender and stress may contribute to gendered differences in cognitive ageing and dementia risk, especially in the context of transgender people using exogenous ovarian hormone therapy (i.e. oestrogen and/or progesterone GAHT). By examining how personal and social identity interact with cognitions, behaviours and the social environment to determine mental health outcomes, she develops theoretical frameworks intended to integrate across bioreductionist, (computational) cognitive, and social levels of analysis.