Dr. Hilary Marusak

Through the CANDID and THINK Labs, Dr. Marusak has built one of the nation’s leading programs on cannabis, trauma, and youth brain development, informing public health policy and prevention strategies.

Dr. Hilary Marusak is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a leading developmental neuroscientist studying how cannabis, stress, and trauma impact the developing brain. She directs the CANDID Division, which investigates the effects of cannabinoids on brain development and mental health, and the THINK Lab, which explores neurodevelopmental mechanisms of stress-related disorders in youth using neuroimaging and behavioral methods. Dr. Marusak leads multiple NIH- and state-funded studies and holds leadership roles with the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, and the WSU Translational Neuroscience PhD Program. She is also cofounder of Science Policy Network-Detroit and host of the BrainSTEM podcast.