Kieran O'Donnell, PhD
Assistant ProfessorDownloadHi-Res Photo
Cards
Appointments
Child Study Center
Fully Joint
Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Fully Joint
Contact Info
Yale School of Medicine
Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
About
Titles
Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. O’Donnell is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences within the Yale School of Medicine where he leads the Health-Omics & Perinatal Epidemiology (HOPE) Research Group.
Dr. O’Donnell's research focuses on maternal perinatal mental health and the developmental origins of mental health. His group integrates genomic and epigenomic data with measures of psychosocial risk to 1) better understand individual differences in maternal perinatal mental health and 2) identify the molecular processes that underlie the persisting influence of the prenatal environment on child/adolescent neurodevelopment. Dr. O'Donnell's research occurs in the context of a number of large prospective longitudinal cohorts, including the Montreal Antenatal Well-Being Study, as well as randomized controlled trials of maternally-focused psychosocial interventions.
Appointments
Child Study Center
Assistant ProfessorFully JointObstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Assistant ProfessorFully Joint
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Child Study Center
- Climate Change and Health
- Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
- Reproductive Sciences
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University (2016)
- PhD
- Imperial College London, Clinical Medicine (2011)
- MSc
- Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, Neuroscience
- BSc (Hon)
- University of Westminster, Psychology
Research
Overview
Medical Research Interests
Biological Psychiatry; Depression, Postpartum; Molecular Epidemiology; Pregnant Women
Public Health Interests
Global Health; Biomarkers; Genetics, Genomics, Epigenetics; Maternal & Child Health; Perinatal/Prenatal Health
ORCID
0000-0002-3935-1014
Research at a Glance
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Kieran O'Donnell's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Kieran O'Donnell is interested in exploring.
102Publications
4,915Citations
Depression, Postpartum
Pregnant Women
Publications
2024
Predictors of Participation in a Perinatal Text Message Screening Protocol for Maternal Depression and Anxiety: Prospective Cohort Study
Barnwell J, Robert C, Nguyen T, Davis K, Gratton C, Elgbeili G, Pham H, Meaney M, Montreuil T, O'Donnell K. Predictors of Participation in a Perinatal Text Message Screening Protocol for Maternal Depression and Anxiety: Prospective Cohort Study. JMIR Pediatrics And Parenting 2024, 7: e53786. PMID: 39361419, PMCID: PMC11487212, DOI: 10.2196/53786.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMaternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Biological Aging During Pregnancy and in Newborns
Dye C, Alschuler D, Wu H, Duarte C, Monk C, Belsky D, Lee S, O’Donnell K, Baccarelli A, Scorza P. Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Biological Aging During Pregnancy and in Newborns. JAMA Network Open 2024, 7: e2427063. PMID: 39120899, PMCID: PMC11316241, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.27063.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMaternal adverse childhood experiencesAdverse childhood experiencesEdinburgh Postnatal Depression ScaleAccessible Resource for Integrated Epigenomics StudiesEpigenetic age accelerationGestational age accelerationAssociated with epigenetic agingAvon Longitudinal Study of ParentsLongitudinal Study of ParentsPostnatal Depression ScalePrimary outcomeChildhood experiencesAvon Longitudinal StudyEpigenetic ageStudy of ParentsAge accelerationHigher ACE scoresCross-sectional studyEpigenetic clocksMother-offspring dyadsDepression ScaleHealth districtMother-child dyadsDNA methylation–based epigenetic clocksInvestigate depressionDifferential interactions between gene expressions and stressors across the lifespan in major depressive disorder
Wang R, Su Y, O'Donnell K, Caron J, Meaney M, Meng X, Li Y. Differential interactions between gene expressions and stressors across the lifespan in major depressive disorder. Journal Of Affective Disorders 2024, 362: 688-697. PMID: 39029669, DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.07.069.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsMDD riskDepressive disorderPatterns of stressorsVulnerability-stress theoriesSusceptibility to MDDTranscriptome-wide association studyDimensions of stressorsLatent profile modelsLongitudinal community-based cohortPrefrontal cortexLifetime stressorsMDDGene expressionBrain amygdalaBasal gangliaStress researchNominal p-values <Southwest MontrealStressorsBrainFine-mapping analysisBrain cortexStudy cohortGenetic predispositionCortexVariation in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the influence of maternal sensitivity on child attachment
Tchalova K, Lydon J, Atkinson L, Fleming A, Kennedy J, Lecompte V, Meaney M, Moss E, O’Donnell K, O’Donnell K, Silveira P, Sokolowski M, Steiner M, Bartz J. Variation in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) moderates the influence of maternal sensitivity on child attachment. Translational Psychiatry 2024, 14: 181. PMID: 38580654, PMCID: PMC10997775, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02888-x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMaternal sensitivityChild attachmentAttachment behaviorExpression of attachment behaviorLevels of maternal sensitivityOPRM1 A118G genotypeInfluence of maternal sensitivityNon-human animal researchAmbivalent attachment patternsStrange Situation paradigmMu-opioid receptor geneOPRM1 A118G polymorphismA118G genotypeChildren's attachment stylesMother-child interactionA118G polymorphismEndogenous opioid systemMinor G alleleSensitive maternal careMother-infant attachmentInfant rhesus macaquesG alleleC77G polymorphismReceptor geneSituation paradigmThe effects of pregnancy, its progression, and its cessation on human (maternal) biological aging
Pham H, Thompson-Felix T, Czamara D, Rasmussen J, Lombroso A, Entringer S, Binder E, Wadhwa P, Buss C, O'Donnell K. The effects of pregnancy, its progression, and its cessation on human (maternal) biological aging. Cell Metabolism 2024, 36: 877-878. PMID: 38521058, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.02.016.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricAssociations between Social Adversity and Biomarkers of Inflammation, Stress, and Aging in Children
Pantell M, Silveira P, de Mendonça Filho E, Wing H, Brown E, Keeton V, Pokhvisneva I, O’Donnell K, Neuhaus J, Hessler D, Meaney M, Adler N, Gottlieb L. Associations between Social Adversity and Biomarkers of Inflammation, Stress, and Aging in Children. Pediatric Research 2024, 95: 1553-1563. PMID: 38233512, PMCID: PMC11126389, DOI: 10.1038/s41390-023-02992-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsSocial adversityChildhood social adversityBiomarkers of inflammationEpigenetic ageSocial risk factorsChildren aged 0ResultsOur final sampleCytokine clusterCumulative adversityFinal sampleSocial predictorsPediatric clinicAged 0Logistic regressionNeuroendocrine functionBiomarkers of stressRisk factorsImpactOur studySocial factorsU-shaped distributionAdversityAssociationBiomarker samplingChildhoodChildren
2023
Maternal social support during and after pregnancy and child cognitive ability: examining timing effects in two cohorts.
Lähdepuro A, Räikkönen K, Pham H, Thompson-Felix T, Eid R, O'Connor T, Glover V, Lahti J, Heinonen K, Wolford E, Lahti-Pulkkinen M, O'Donnell K. Maternal social support during and after pregnancy and child cognitive ability: examining timing effects in two cohorts. Psychological Medicine 2023, 54: 1661-1670. PMID: 38087866, DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723003550.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsChildren's cognitive abilitiesChildren's cognitive developmentGeneral cognitive abilityMaternal social supportCognitive abilitiesCognitive developmentSocial supportChildren's general cognitive abilitiesWechsler Intelligence ScaleMaternal experienceIntelligence ScaleTiming effectsAvon Longitudinal StudyMaternal anxietySensitive periodLongitudinal studyMaternal symptomsProspective longitudinal cohortAnxietyChildrenLess attentionDepressionLongitudinal cohortSupportWISCIndependent Prediction of Child Psychiatric Symptoms by Maternal Mental Health and Child Polygenic Risk Scores
Chen L, Pokhvisneva I, Lahti-Pulkkinen M, Kvist T, Baldwin J, Parent C, Silveira P, Lahti J, Räikkönen K, Glover V, O'Connor T, Meaney M, O'Donnell K. Independent Prediction of Child Psychiatric Symptoms by Maternal Mental Health and Child Polygenic Risk Scores. Journal Of The American Academy Of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2023, 63: 640-651. PMID: 37977417, PMCID: PMC11105503, DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2023.08.018.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsPrenatal maternal depressionMaternal mental healthMaternal depressionAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderChild psychiatric symptomsPolygenic risk scoresPsychiatric symptomsRisk scoreMental healthFetal originGenomic riskAvon Longitudinal StudySimilar independent effectsAdolescent psychiatric symptomsHealth hypothesisMaternal symptomsChild CohortIndependent cohortBehavioral symptomsALSPAC cohortMental disordersSymptom dataSymptomsCohortChildren's symptomsEpigenetic age acceleration as a biomarker for impaired cognitive abilities in adulthood following early life adversity and psychiatric disorders
Felt J, Yusupov N, Harrington K, Fietz J, Zhang Z, Sliwinski M, Ram N, O'Donnell K, Group B, Meaney M, Putnam F, Noll J, Binder E, Shenk C. Epigenetic age acceleration as a biomarker for impaired cognitive abilities in adulthood following early life adversity and psychiatric disorders. Neurobiology Of Stress 2023, 27: 100577. PMID: 37885906, PMCID: PMC10597797, DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100577.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsEarly life adversityPsychiatric disordersEpigenetic age accelerationLife adversityAge accelerationProspective cohort studyBiological agingNon-abused controlsCohort studyNeurocognitive screeningPeripheral bloodCommunity cohortNeurocognitive declineIndependent cohortCognitive declineEarly screeningMental disordersCohortGrimAge clockDisordersBiomarkersLower general cognitive abilityEarly declineNeurocognitive abilitiesCognitive abilitiesPerinatal Trajectories of Maternal Depressive Symptoms in Prospective, Community-Based Cohorts Across 3 Continents
Kee M, Cremaschi A, De Iorio M, Chen H, Montreuil T, Nguyen T, Côté S, O’Donnell K, Giesbrecht G, Letourneau N, Chan S, Meaney M. Perinatal Trajectories of Maternal Depressive Symptoms in Prospective, Community-Based Cohorts Across 3 Continents. JAMA Network Open 2023, 6: e2339942. PMID: 37883082, PMCID: PMC10603499, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.39942.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsSelf-reported depressive symptomsMaternal depressive symptomsDepressive symptomsPerinatal periodPostnatal periodEdinburgh Postnatal Depression ScalePostnatal Depression ScaleEpidemiological Studies DepressionHealth policy guidelinesPublic health initiativesGroups of mothersCohort studyObservational cohortProspective cohortPregnancy influencesReferral guidelinesMultiple time pointsDepression ScaleMAIN OUTCOMEPregnancyPostnatal onsetStudies DepressionHealth initiativesTimely interventionCohort
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
activity McGill University
Professional OrganizationsAdjunct ProfessorDetails07/01/2020 - Presentactivity Ludmer Center for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health
Professional OrganizationsInvestigatorDetails05/30/2016 - Presentactivity Scientific Reports
Journal ServiceEditorDetails02/03/2017 - Presentactivity Postpartum Support International-Advisory Council
Advisory BoardsBoard MemberDetailsPostpartum Support International01/29/2021 - Presentactivity Learning Clubs
ResearchDetails07/01/2020 - PresentMelbourne, VIC, Australia; Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
News & Links
News
- December 11, 2024
October 2024 YCSC Faculty Development Fund awardees announced
- November 21, 2024
New BEGINnings: Presidential Policy Platform to Improve Health and Wellbeing for Children and Families
- August 30, 2024
Distinguished Speakers Announced: Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds Fall 2024
- April 08, 2024Source: Time
Pregnancy Can Make You Age Faster
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Yale School of Medicine
Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road
New Haven, CT 06519
United States
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