Olga Herren, Ph.D.

Social Behavioral Scientist Administrator (Program Official)
Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences
olga.herren@nih.gov
301-402-4492

Olga Herren, Ph.D., is a Social Behavioral Scientist Administrator (Program Official) at NIMHD. She focuses on promoting research that expands understanding of multilevel determinants of health behaviors and how populations are differentially impacted, driving disparities among underrepresented populations. She provides expertise in conducting minority health and health disparities research in behavioral health, biopsychosocial determinants of health, cognition, obesity, and cancer risk.

Prior to joining NIMHD, Dr. Herren worked as a Cancer Research Training Award Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences in the Behavioral Research Program's Health Behaviors Research Branch. During her tenure at the NCI, she focused on conducting research in identifying differences in biopsychosocial determinants of health behaviors that may help to explain health disparities, as well as participating in programmatic efforts to support research in the intersection of obesity, cancer, and health disparities.

Dr. Herren holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Neuropsychology from the Howard University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Selected Publications

1. Herren, O. M., Agurs-Collins, T., Dwyer, L. A., Perna, F. M., & Ferrer, R. (2021). Emotion suppression, coping strategies, dietary patterns, and BMI. Eating Behaviors, 41, 101500. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2021.101500.
2. Herren, O. M., Burris, S., Levy, S.A., Kirk, K., Banks, K.S., Jones, V.L., Beard, B., Mwendwa, D.T., Callender, C.O. & Campbell, A.L. (2019). The influence of spirituality on depression-induced inflammation and executive functioning in a community sample of African Americans. Ethnicity & Disease, 29(2) 267-276. doi:10.18865/ed.29.2.267.
3. Callender, C.O., Mwendwa, D.T., Gholson, G., Sims Wright, R., Keen, L., Adesibikan, B., Madhere, S., Apprey, V., Bonney, G., Michael, M., Magnus-Lawson, B., Ivy, G., Idris-Suleiman, L., Hernandez, A., Herren, O. M. & Campbell, A.L. (2019). BMI, waist size, GFR: In African American Blacks. Journal of Obesity and Weight Loss Medication, 5(028). doi: 10.23937/2572-4010.1510028.

Page updated November 4, 2022