Dr. Uma Rao has been involved in mood and substance use (addictive) disorders research for 35 years. Her primary areas of interest are adolescent depressive and addictive disorders during the transition to early (emerging) adulthood, including neurobiological (i.e., neuroimaging, neurocognitive, neuroendocrine, neuroimmune, and sleep) and psychosocial (e.g., temperament, self-efficacy, social stress, and social support) predictors of first onset and longitudinal clinical course of these disorders among youth with familial and environmental risk (especially early-life adversity), developmental and racial/ethnic influences on clinical presentation and neurobiological processes, and translational intervention research. Dr. Rao has extended her work to include physical/medical conditions that frequently co-occur with these disorders, specifically adolescent obesity and associated complications such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders as well as pain responses and experiences, from health disparities perspectives focusing on racial/ethnic and sex/gender influences.

Dr. Rao has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health as well as private foundations. She has published the research findings in reputed scientific journals. She received awards from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Indo-American Psychiatric Association and community agencies for her scientific and volunteer contributions.