2026 Annual Meeting
Gallagher Lecture
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 8:30 AM
The SAHM Program Committee is delighted to share with the 2026 Gallagher lecture that will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 during the SAHM Annual Meeting in Seattle. We are honored to have Adriana Galván, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Co-Executive Director of the Center for the Developing Adolescent, and Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Los Angeles giving this year’s lecture, Adolescent Brain Development: The Importance of Connections.
About the Gallagher Lecture: The Gallagher Lectures honor J. Roswell Gallagher, MD, FSAHM, the founding president of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. The lectures were designed to provide a forum for outstanding speakers to address the full spectrum of adolescent medicine’s concerns: the biological, the psychological, and the social. To view a list of past lecturers please visit the Gallagher Lecture page.
Adolescent Brain Development: The Importance of Connections
Adolescence is a special period of development. Young people ages 10-24 reach important developmental milestones during this time of life during which they explore, grow, and connect. The neurodevelopmental changes that occur during adolescence support these developmental changes. As revealed from neuroscience research, the adolescent brain exhibits significant plasticity and undergoes an important period of connectivity—strengthening of brain pathways—that reflect the increasing connections adolescents have with their peers, families and communities. This talk will provide an overview of brain development, current understanding of adolescent neuroscience, mental health, and an opportunity to discuss how this research may be useful in supporting system-impacted youth.
Adriana Galván, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Co-Executive Director of the Center for the Developing Adolescent
Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education
University of California, Los Angeles
Learn More about Adriana Galván, PhD
Dr. Adriana Galván is a Professor of Psychology and the Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also the Co-Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent. As a neuroscientist her career has been focused on adolescent brain development and how it supports developmental milestones during this significant period of life. Her research expertise focuses on characterizing the neural mechanisms underlying adolescent behavior to inform policies that impact young people.
Dr. Galván has published over 130 scientific articles on the topic and is the author of The Neuroscience of Adolescence (Cambridge University Press). Her research, generously funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and numerous private foundations, has been featured in several media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, PBSNewsHour, and NPR. She received her B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior from Barnard College, Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Cornell.
She has received multiple recognitions for her work, including from the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychological Association, Cognitive Neuroscience Society and William T. Grant Foundation. She is also the recipient of the UCLA Gold Shield Faculty Prize. In 2018 she was a Fulbright Scholar in Barcelona and in 2019 she received the White House Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineers (PECASE) award.
We look forward to sharing more of the exciting SAHM 2026 Annual Meeting Plenary Program in the coming weeks! Please check back for updates.