A $2.1 million R01 grant has been awarded to Mount Sinai to study the effects of environmental exposures during pregnancy on the risk of postpartum depression. It will be led by Principal Investigator Lauren Petrick, PhD, Professor of Environmental Medicine and Head of Untargeted Metabolomics and Exposomics at the Senator Frank R. Lautenberg Environmental Health Sciences Laboratory.
Dr. Petrick will examine whether factors in the built environment (e.g., air pollution, noise, light at night) and stress (e.g., cortisol, negative life events) are linked to increased maternal depression risk. Researchers will not only look at the combined effects of built environment and social risk factors, but also protective factors like greenness and coping mechanisms. This will allow us to unravel which factors are most important to reduce maternal depression risk.
To read the grant summary, visit NIH Reporter.