Jessica Weafer, PhD

About

Biography

I am Jessica Weafer, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. I specialize in understanding sex differences in the causes and consequences of problematic alcohol use. My research focuses on identifying behavioral and neurobiological risk factors, with particular emphasis on those unique to females, to inform more precise prevention and treatment strategies.

My work integrates multiple approaches, including human behavioral pharmacology, neuroimaging and real-world assessments through ecological momentary assessment and wrist-worn biosensors. By combining controlled laboratory methods with naturalistic data collection, I aim to capture how alcohol use and related behaviors unfold in daily life.

A key area of my research examines sex differences in the bidirectional relationship between sleep and alcohol consumption. I am particularly interested in how poor sleep may both contribute to and result from alcohol use, and how these patterns differ across populations.

Ultimately, my goal is to advance the identification of sex-specific risk factors and translate these findings into more tailored, effective prevention and treatment efforts for alcohol and substance use disorders. I am committed to collaborative, interdisciplinary research that improves understanding and outcomes in behavioral health.

Credentials

Research