Laura A. Baker, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California and a certified Iyengar yoga teacher (CIYT). She earned her BA in psychology from the University of Kansas and her MA and PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she specialized in behavioral genetics and quantitative psychology. Her research focuses on gene-environment interactions in human behavior, and she directs the Southern California Twin Project at USC. Dr. Baker has authored over 125 scientific articles and book chapters in behavioral genetics and has received several awards for her contributions to the field. She teaches courses in behavioral genetics, human sexuality, and contemplative neuroscience. She is also a member of the Patterns in Developmental Pathways (PDP) Group, along with David Daniels, late psychiatrist and clinical professor at Stanford, Denise Daniels, PhD, psychologist and author, Jack Killen, MD, a research physician and Dan Siegel, director of the Mindsight Institute. Together they co-authored the book, Personality and Wholeness in Therapy: Integrating 9 Patterns of Developmental Pathways in Clinical Practice, published in 2024 as part of the Norton series in Interpersonal Neurobiology.
