Dr Hudson Santos
“My philosophy for training and mentorship is to foster creative thinking, strong research skills development and independence in students to that they can go on to make significant contributions in their area of interest.
The long-term goal is to be able to provide a robust learning environment within IEHS, as well as help attract a diverse and dynamic group of students to advance our mission of novel solution-oriented research.”
About Dr. Santos
Hudson Santos, Ph.D, RN is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. He earned a Ph.D from the University of Sao Paulo and completed postdoctoral training in symptom science and bio-behavioral research at the Duke University.
Dr. Santos’ research program advances knowledge of the biological and behavioral basis of perinatal mental health conditions (e.g., postpartum depression, anxiety) and their related parental responses and infant outcomes in low-income families. His research program informs naturalistic and low-cost interventions that improve the management of perinatal and postpartum mood symptoms and parent-infant interactions. This work improves infant outcomes and family relationships to mitigate health disparities across generations.
Dr. Santos’ work concentrates in three areas:
- Configurations and variations of depressive and anxiety symptoms over the first years of postpartum
- The biobehavioral mechanisms of maternal and paternal depressive and anxiety symptoms, including oxytocin levels and parenting behavior
- Naturalistic and low-cost interventions to promote mental health wellness in low-income families
