Doctoral Dissertation Research: Developmental programming and epigenetic changes in response to maternal environments

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Developmental programming refers to early life biological responses to the environment that can shape long-term well-being. The prenatal period is a critical window for developmental programming, with a variety of environmental signals being transmitted from a mother to her offspring, potentially reflected as "epigenetic" changes in offspring gene regulation. This dissertation project will advance our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms of adaptation by identifying correlations in gene regulation between a mother and her offspring and investigating the impact of acute and chronic maternal stressors on infant DNA methylation. The project will create STEM training opportunities in epigenetic research for undergraduate and graduate students. Results from this study will contribute to biocultural research on life history and social determinants of well-being, including for understudied populations, and will have the potential to inform clinical policy and practice. Findings will be disseminated to study participants and the general public through various venues, including prenatal care groups.Developmental programming begins before birth, meaning that the experience of the mother is critical for offspring adaptability and fitness. Maternal signals transmitted to the offspring prenatally may represent the mother's total life history and/or the acute environment, including experiences of stress. One mechanism through which the offspring can respond to these signals is through epigenetic modifications, including changes in DNA methylation. The investigators will use infant DNA methylation at birth as a sensor of the prenatal environment, to assess how the offspring adapts to various maternal signals relayed during pregnancy. They will address whether infant methylation is more correlated with maternal methylation at 7-15 weeks, reflecting the cumulative life history of the mother before pregnancy as DNA methylation changes over the life course in response to the environment, or at 23-34 weeks, where maternal DNA methylation would be expected to change in response to the pregnancy-specific environment. A collection of DNA methylation marks that represent an "epigenetic clock" of chronological age will be used as a summary measure of life history in the mother and developmental maturity in the neonate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.