Kimberly D'Anna-Hernandez // Biological Sciences // Marquette University

Adjunct Associate Professor

Department of Biological Sciences

Associate Professor

Department of Psychology

My area of specialization is behavioral neuroscience. I completed my predoctoral work in Animal Behavior/Neuroscience with a minor in Chiccano/Latino studies at Michigan State University, doctoral training in behavioral neuroscience at University of Wisconsin-Madison and postdoctoral training with the Developmental Psychobiology Research Group at the University of Colorado Denver. Among my research interests are the role of stress-related hormones on maternal behavior, and the role of acculturation and discrimination and other psychosocial measures on the biological response to stress in pregnant women, particularly Mexican and Mexican-American women.

Education

Postdoc, University of Colorado, Denver, 2011
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2008
B.S. Michigan State University, 2003

Research Interests

The goal of our work is to understand the underlying behavioral and biological mechanisms of perinatal mental health disparities in the Latinx population. The Latinx population is one of the fastest growing populations in the US and this population growth is driven by high rates. Stressful situations that disrupt the maternal-infant bond (e.g.maternal depression, anxiety, stress) can be devastating to the health and welfare of offspring and the Latinx population disproportionately experiences many of these factors. As mothers are essential to offspring well-being and survival, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to maternal mental health disparities, including biological indicators, in this vulnerable population. Thus,our long-term research objective is to use both behavioral and psychological measures to assess the impact of the prenatal environment (stress, discrimination, mood, neuroendocrine regulation, access to health care) on subsequent developmental trajectories of offspring related to the vulnerability of depression in the mother/child dyad. In particular, I use community-engaged research to address perinatal mental health disparities in Latina women and their children.