Exploration question
How can we leverage psychological research on parenting to help make the parenting experience less stressful, more meaningful, and more sustainable?
Darby is a clinical psychologist and tenured full professor of psychology at the University of Southern California. She has published over eighty scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and secured major research grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
She earned awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development and was a Fulbright fellow to Spain in 2019. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA and her BA in English and psychology from Yale University.
Her research focuses on the transition to parenthood, particularly the neural and hormonal underpinnings of fatherhood. She integrates neuroscience and psychology to explore how close connections shape health and wellbeing. Her first book, Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How it Shapes Men’s Lives, was published by Flatiron Books in June 2026.
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Dan, a music producer, two teenagers, and way too many pets.
