Larissa G. Duncan PhD

Larissa G. Duncan, Ph.D., is the Elizabeth C. Davies Chair in Child & Family Well-Being and Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds appointments as the Healthy Minds, Children, and Families Specialist with UW-Extension and as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in the School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Duncan is the Associate Director of the Center for Child and Family Well-Being and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison.

Dr. Duncan is internationally recognized for her development of a framework to promote and assess mindful parenting as well as her work to bring mindfulness and compassion training to pregnant women, children/adolescents, and families in school, community, and medical contexts. Dr. Duncan employs mixed methods to study the biological and psychological pathways through which contemplative practices may support healthy child and family development as enhancements to other evidence-based strategies for prevention and lifecourse health promotion.