Reproductive, Perinatal, and Pediatric Epidemiology Research
Overview
The health concerns faced in the field of reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric health are among the most pressing issues of our time, from both scientific and public perspectives. The reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology (RPPE) program area provides students with a multidisciplinary perspective and a strong foundation in epidemiologic concepts and methods necessary to study human reproduction and child health and development. The program prepares students to pursue careers in reproductive, perinatal and pediatric epidemiologic research.
Students in the program will gain an understanding of:
- Basic human reproduction and child development biology.
- Social, lifestyle, genetic and environmental influences on reproductive and child health.
- Methodological issues relevant to conducting and interpreting studies of pregnancy and child health.
- Clinical and health service aspects of reproductive, perinatal, and child health.
- Optimizing maternal and child health through effective intervention.
Required Courses
- EPID/MHCH 851: Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology
- EPID/MHCH 853: Advanced Perinatal Epidemiology
Core Faculty
Dr. Julie Daniels: Child development, Environment, Nutrition, Reproductive health, Occupational health, Pediatric epidemiology
Dr. Tania Desrosiers: employment and occupational exposures during pregnancy; environmental exposures; perinatal/pediatric outcomes.
Dr. Stephanie Engel: Child development, Environment, Maternal health, Reproductive health, Occupational epidemiology
Dr. Jonsson-Funk: Focuses her work on evaluating doubly-robust estimators, and applications to questions of comparative effectiveness and safety in large healthcare databases, with an emphasis on pregnancy.
Dr. Chantel Martin: Social and biological mechanisms of health disparities over lifecourse.
Dr. Joanna “Asia” Maselko: Global mental health; social context and intergenerational transmission of mental health problems over the lifecourse.
Dr. Hazel Nichols: Carolina Endometrial Cancer Study, UNC Cancer Survivorship Cohort, Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Horizon Study, AYA Valuing Opinions and Insight from Cancer Experiences (VOICE) Study, SEER-linked data. Particularly reproductive health following cancer treatment.
Dr. Andrew Olshan: Cancer, Child development, Environment, Genetic epidemiology, Occupational health, Reproductive health
Dr. Audrey Pettifor: Sexually transmitted diseases, Health behavior, Determinants of and novel interventions for HIV, Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Daniel Westreich: Child development, Maternal health, Reproductive health, Sexually transmitted diseases, Women’s health
Dr. Mollie Wood: Safety of medication use during pregnancy, particularly for medications that treat chronic conditions such as depression, migraine, and diabetes.
Dr. Anissa Vines: Perceived racial discrimination, Stress and coping, Chronic disparate conditions (e.g. uterine fibroids, obesity and type 2 diabetes)
Selected Collaborative Groups at UNC
Carolina Population Center
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
The Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility
Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities
Schools and Departments
