VIPBG News

By Elizabeth Long

Mackenzie Lind is a 3rd year MD/PhD student in the Psychiatric, Behavioral, and Statistical Genetics PhD program. Mackenzie has always been interested in the biological influences of behavior, particularly sleep and sleep problems. As an undergraduate, she pursued her interests from a neurobiological perspective, earning a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. Upon graduation, she furthered her research experience through a Fulbright Grant in Helsinki, Finland, where she studied sleep physiology. She then decided to complete the PhD portion of her program at VIPBG, allowing her to take advantage of the unique opportunity to study her phenotypes of interest from a genetic perspective.

“Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.”

Dean Acheson (secretary of state for Harry S. Truman)

Mackenzie’s current research involves studying the complex relationships between sleep, trauma, and psychopathology, focusing on both epidemiology and the underlying genetic architecture. She was recently selected by the journal Sleep for a press release regarding her recent publication entitled, “A longitudinal twin study of insomnia symptoms in adults.” This study found that genetic influences on insomnia might be more influential in females and that these effects were stable across time.

Outside of research, Mackenzie’s hobbies include running, baking, reading, and traveling.