Catherine Monk

Catherine Monk, PhD, is the inaugural Diana Vagelos Professor of Women’s Mental Health in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Professor of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is also a Research Scientist VI at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and founding director of Women’s Mental Health @Ob/Gyn. Her research integrates perinatal psychiatry, developmental psychobiology, and neuroscience to study how maternal stress and mental health during pregnancy influence fetal and infant neurodevelopment, with a focus on breaking intergenerational cycles of mental health risks.

• Education: PhD from Graduate School of the City University of New York; Internship at Montefiore Medical Center.
• Research Interests: Prenatal programming of psychopathology, fetal brain development, maternal mental health interventions, and mitigating disparities in pregnancy outcomes.

Her work includes landmark studies like the COMBO project (assessing pandemic effects on mother-infant dyads) and the PREPP intervention (preventing postpartum depression). Over 20 years of NIH funding underscores her contributions to maternal-child health, including grants like R01HD092062 and R01MH126531.

Dr. Monk’s scientific awards include the NIH K Career Development Award (2001) and leadership roles in organizations like Marcé of North America and Zero to Three. Her lab, the Perinatal Pathways Lab, collaborates globally on projects like the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) initiative.