معرفی
Dr. Kieran O'Donnell is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences within the Yale School of Medicine. He leads the Health-Omics & Perinatal Epidemiology (HOPE) Research Group. His work integrates genomic and epigenomic data with psychosocial risk factors to understand maternal mental health and its impact on child neurodevelopment. Research occurs in large cohorts like the Montreal Antenatal Well-Being Study and randomized controlled trials of psychosocial interventions.
- Education:
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University (2016)
- PhD in Clinical Medicine, Imperial College London (2011)
- MSc in Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
- BSc (Honors) in Psychology, University of Westminster
Research focuses on maternal perinatal mental health, developmental origins of mental disorders, and molecular epidemiology. Key interests include the biological embedding of early life adversity and epigenetic mechanisms linking maternal mental health to child outcomes. Recent work explores biomarkers like DNA methylation and epigenetic clocks to assess aging and stress responses.
Publications highlight interdisciplinary approaches, including studies on maternal adverse childhood experiences, social adversity biomarkers, and gene-environment interactions in depression. Over 100 peer-reviewed articles demonstrate contributions to psychiatric and developmental epidemiology.
- Awards:
- NARSAD Young Investigator Award (2020)
- CIFAR Fellow in Child & Brain Development (2019)
- FRSQ Research Fellow (2019)
- CIFAR Global Scholar (2016)
Grants and collaborations include leadership roles in international cohorts and methodological innovations in epigenetic research. Advising includes mentoring on maternal mental health and molecular epidemiology. Active in professional societies including Postpartum Support International.
Labs/Teams: Leads the HOPE Research Group, collaborating with the Center for Brain & Mind Health and Climate Change and Health initiatives at Yale.
