Molecular signatures of pregnancy health and child development: What can measures of biological age tell us?

Speaker: Dr. Kieran O’Donnell, Assistant Professor, Yale Child Study Center & Dept. Obs. Gyn. & Repro Sciences, Yale School of Medicine

Dr. O’Donnell is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed within the Yale Child Study Center and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr O’Donnell leads the Health-Omics and Perinatal Epidemiology research group, which seeks to better understand individual differences in the fetal origins of mental health.

In 2019 Dr O’Donnell was elected as a Fellow to the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (Child and Brain Development Program), awarded a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Young Investigator award and named a Jacobs Foundation Young Scholar. In 2022, O’Donnell was named a Scialog Fellow (Molecular Basis of Cognition Program) by the Research Corporation for the Advancement of Science. Dr. O’Donnell also serves on the Advisory Council of Postpartum Support International, a leading perinatal mental health training and advocacy organization.

Talk summary:

An ever-increasing number of biomarkers of aging have been developed and used to better predict individual differences in age-related pathologies. Such DNA methylation-based measures of biological age have been proposed as ‘integrative biomarkers of system health’. Here, drawing on unique data from multiple prospective, longitudinal pregnancy cohorts, and a perinatal intervention, we ask: can measures of biological aging inform our understanding of pregnancy health and child development?

Agenda:

9-9:45 am PDT: Speaker presentation

9:45-10:00 am PDT: Question and answer period