De Neve West
People To Know
Nadir Fouani
nfouani@orl.ucla.edu
Resident Director
De Neve West
Alex Garcia
erivera@orl.ucla.edu
Assistant Resident Director
De Neve East
Dr. Bridget Callaghan
bcallaghan@ucla.edu
Faculty-In-Residence
De Neve West
Dr. Bridget Callaghan is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology where she directs the Brain & Body Lab. In her lab, Bridget and her students study how early experiences (particularly with caregivers) get under the skin to influence mental and physical health across the lifespan. Using a diverse range of tools such as brain imaging, heart rate monitoring, and gastrointestinal microbiome analyses, as well as behavioral observations of parents and children, and cognitive tasks, Bridget’s research is aimed at creating personalized mental and physical interventions and supports for people who are struggling after early caregiving adversity.
Bridget was born in Sydney Australia and received her undergraduate BA degree in Psychology and her Ph.D at the University of New South Wales before moving to the USA in 2014 to complete her postdoc at Columbia University. Bridget moved to sunny Los Angeles in 2019 with her husband Beau, and her fur baby (Vinnie). Bridget and Beau have a 3 year old son called Freddie. Together, Bridget, Beau and Freddie love to spend time at the beach, at the Sunset Recreation, and finding pretty spots in nature. Vinnie (the dog) nearly drowned in a storm water drain on Christmas Day 2019 (Bridget had to dive in to save him) and so does not partake in water based activities. He also does not like garden sprinklers. He does love sleeping. Freddie likes to watch Bluey on TV, play with trains, learn to skateboard, and swim. Bridget loves to sew (and is learning to make quilts), craft, and learn new crafts.
