Biography

Jennifer was born in Augsburg, Germany. She attended Carleton College as an undergraduate and received her MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed an internship. From there she traveled to California, completing a residency in psychiatry at Stanford and a research fellowship, followed by a child psychiatry clinical and research fellowship at UCLA. Dr. Levitt joined the faculty in 1994. She is remembered for her many selfless accomplishments, gentle disposition, wry humor, courage and important place in the history of the Child Psychiatry Division during her 28-year career on faculty.

Dr. Jennifer Levitt blended warm, compassionate expert clinical skill, creativity and innovation in neuroscience research, and selfless commitment to teaching generations of learners in the Semel Institute. Dr. Levitt was the first member of UCLA child psychiatry faculty to embrace brain MRI neuroimaging as a research methodology in the 1990’s to try to understand both normal development and child neuropsychiatric disorders, starting with her receiving a prestigious NIMH “K” career development award and going on to lead and collaborate on multiple NIH funded projects. This included the seminal NIH MRI Study of Brain Development, and other studies of the neurobiology of ADHD, autism, OCD, prenatal alcohol exposure and epilepsy described in over 90 publications. As a core attending faculty member for the teaching clinic in pediatric psychopharmacology, Dr. Levitt modeled not only expert clinical skill but also steady resilience and tremendous courage. Her dedication to caring for families was clear in every clinical interaction, and she inspired generations of mental health clinicians with her commitment to supporting the wellbeing of children and families.

“Keep your face towards the sunshine And you cannot see the shadow.” – Helen Keller