Dr. Jernigan is Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry and Radiology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Since 2008, Dr. Jernigan’s central research interest has been studying the developing human mind and brain. She has pursued this interest in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team as Director of the Center for Human Development at UCSD. Dr. Jernigan also directs the Coordinating Center for the PING Project – a publicly shared imaging genomics data resource with imaging, neurocognition, and whole genome genotyping data from over 1500 children ages 3 to 20 years. She is a member of the National Advisory Board on Drug Abuse and serves on the scientific advisory boards of several research organizations in the United States and Europe.