She was born to John Albert Landrine and Sarah Alice Palmer on July 4, 1954, in Yonkers, New York, US.
[1] Landrine was involved with activism very early on in her life, becoming a president of the Black Student Union in her area and a member of the Young Socialist Alliance.
Her thesis at the University of Rhode Island was entitled The Politics of Madness, and focused on the interaction between psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, and socioeconomic status.
Landrine reported that she experienced racist and derogatory statements and actions from some faculty and administration at the university.
[1] After completing her postdoctoral fellowships, Landrine was a senior research scientist at the Public Health Foundation in Los Angeles from about 1993 to 2000.
[2] Landrine has received recognition for her work from numerous organizations and her peers in the behavioral sciences and public health.