Nicki Aubuchon-Endsley, Ph.D.

Summary: My interdisciplinary research program broadly includes examination of maternal stress-related disorders and health indicators/behaviors around pregnancy that lead to offspring risk for developing behavioral or physical health problems. I am particularly interested in interactions between maternal obesity/nutrition and depression and the association of these risk factors with infant outcomes. My research also seeks to understand biological mechanisms underlying these relationships, with a current emphasis on the roles of stress hormones in socioeconomically-diverse samples.

Minimum Classes: N/A

Projects: Although my summer research fellow will not be interacting directly with Human Subjects, they will obtain a range of research experience in completing data management, data analysis (using specialized modeling statistics), and construction of a research poster, and possibly a paper. Summer projects may include one or more of the following topics drawn from existing data available through established collaborations with investigators at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: (1) maternal anxiety and depression in relation to infant neurobehavior, (2) fetal metabolic hormone expression in relation to multigenerational obesity risk, (3) stress hormone mechanisms linking maternal and infant weight, and (4) the influence of perinatal nutrition on infant neurobehavioral development.