On the occasion of its 132nd annual meeting, the American Psychological Association recognizes Terrie Moffitt, PhD, for her outstanding lifetime contributions to psychology. Her pioneering work as a researcher on human lifespan development, as a prolific scholar and educator, and as a champion for collaboration and interdisciplinarity with groundbreaking research that integrates psychology, medicine, genomics, and neuropsychology, among other fields, has significantly advanced our comprehension of developmental psychopathology and the intricacies of human development through the lifespan.
An American-British psychologist, Moffitt is the Nannerl O. Keohane University professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, and a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King's College London in the U.K. One of Moffitt’s most impactful research projects is the Dunedin Longitudinal Study. She is the Associate Director of this multidisciplinary study that has followed the developmental trajectories of 1037 people born in 1972 in New Zealand. The Dunedin Study has been fundamental to assess how individuals’ early experiences influence their mental and physical health throughout life and its findings have informed public policy, justice, and medical recommendations.
Moffitt also cofounded the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, which has followed 1,100 British families with twins born in 1994. This work has improved our knowledge about how environmental and genetic factors contribute to different behaviors and the development of mental health problems. Moffitt is interested in development across the lifespan and, since 2007, she has also been studying processes of aging in midlife. In 2015, her team became the first in the world to develop and publish the longitudinal approach to measuring the pace of whole-body aging. Since then, they have applied this approach to more than 50 cohort studies in 15 countries. In a truly interdisciplinary fashion, she and her teams combine previously unconnected disciplines to make new discoveries.
Moffitt’s contributions to science and society include research on antisocial behavior; discoveries about mental disorders across the lifespan; insights about the importance of self-control for health, wealth, life success, and healthy aging; research on the effects of early lead exposure on brain health; a new measure of accumulated chronic inflammation relevant for the fields of aging and human development; studies on how early psychiatric disorders are connected with late-life physical and neurodegenerative diseases; insights about how vaccine resistance might have its roots in childhood; and the study of healthy aging in young adults to inform interventions to prevent the onset of age-related diseases and slow down age-related physical and cognitive decline. With more than 300 articles published and over 228,000 citations, Moffitt is a very prolific scholar, who has collaborated with criminologists, economists, epidemiologists, statisticians, and medical scientists, even ophthalmologists and dentists, among others. Notable is also her early adoption of new technologies that end up revolutionizing the way scientists conduct experiments. Moffitt, together with her teams, was among the first scientists to collect DNA, in 1996; use retinal imaging, in 2009; assay the chronic inflammation biomarker SuPAR, in 2017; and use silicone wristbands to assess airborne toxic exposures, in 2023.
A trailblazer in psychological science, Moffitt’s academic trajectory illustrates the richness and diversity that can be found in her work. Following completion of her undergraduate degree in psychology, she earned an MA in experimental psychology and a PhD in clinical psychology. Her postdoctoral training included a clinical internship in neuropsychology and postdoctoral studies in neuroscience and geriatrics. Moffitt is also a licensed clinical psychologist, with specialization in neuropsychological assessment.
Moffitt’s excellence also extends to mentoring, which has been recognized with the 2019 Postdoctoral Mentor award from Duke University. She has trained 28 young scientists who, combined, have won more than 45 prestigious early-career awards and fellowships. Her mentorship style fosters the development of new ideas and has positively impacted many students at different levels, including undergraduates, and from diverse backgrounds, including first-generation college students.
In the last 10 years, Moffitt has received more than 30 honors and awards. To name just a few, in 1993, she was awarded the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. In 2016, she was awarded the APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. In 2018, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. In 2024, Moffitt was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by King Charles.
Besides being a brilliant researcher with so many contributions to science and accomplishments, Moffitt also has other interests and talents. In the 1970s, she dabbled in acting, starring in a film along with an American race car driver. And today she spends her spare time working on her farm in North Carolina, when she is not camping and hiking in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific.
Terrie Moffit’s impact on the field of psychological science continues to inspire both researchers and practitioners. Driven by curiosity about the extremes of the human spectrum, Moffitt has made invaluable contributions to our field.
It is with deep gratitude for your exceptional career as a scholar, professor, and as one of the most creative and collaborative leaders in psychological science, that the American Psychological Association is privileged to present you with the 2024 Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology.