Research has shown that maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like abuse and neglect have a profound and long-lasting effect on development and health across generations. And we know that ACEs are not randomly distributed but affect individuals inequitably the context of racism, colonialism, and other forms of structural violence.

Yet, much remains to be known about how these social inequities become biologically embedded and transmitted intergenerationally during the perinatal period. One proposed method is through epigenetic changes, which alter not the sequence of DNA but rather how DNA is expressed. The most studied epigenetic mechanism to date is DNA methylation. We are working on better understanding DNA methylation changes that occur during the perinatal period in the context of adversity. Through our work, we intend to help elucidate biological processes that connect social inequities and health across generations in order to use biomarkers to evaluate perinatal interventions that aim to redress these health inequities.