Megan Gilligan’s high quantity and quality of research in her years as a faculty member of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies have distinguished her as an accomplished scholar in the field of gerontology. As one of the few researchers in the U.S. who studies the relationships of adult children and their families, Gilligan’s research is both invaluable and nationally recognized. Her research of relationships between mothers and their adult children suggests that the conditions of these bonds depend in part on perceptions of favoritism by mothers. This favoritism, or lack thereof, may also play a role in adult children’s psychological well-being and sibling relationship quality. Furthermore, Gilligan’s research on parent-child estrangement sheds light on how complex family dynamics are adversely affected by estrangement. Gilligan serves as a key investigator on the Within Family Differences Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which seeks to understand intergenerational relationships.