Catherine Monk

Publications
Research Gate
Curriculum Vitae

Catherine Monk, PhD, is the inaugural Diana Vagelos Professor of Women’s Mental Health in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Professor of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Research Scientist VI at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.  Dr. Monk oversees the clinical service, the Division of Women’s Mental Health @Ob/Gyn, an embedded mental health program in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center / NewYork-Presbyterian.

Dr. Monk’s research brings together the fields of psychopathology, developmental psychobiology, developmental neuroscience, and perinatal psychiatry to focus on the earliest influences on children’s developmental trajectories—those that happen in utero—and how to intervene early to prevent mental health problems. She collaborates with colleagues to include biological and psychological processes in her research, e.g., using MRI techniques to study variation in brain development related to prenatal maternal factors such as distress and poor nutrition, examining gene expression in placentas related to similar maternal variables. Her research has been continuously funded by NIH since her NIMH Career Development award in 2000.

Elizabeth Werner

Elizabeth Werner, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Medicine in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and serves as the Director of the Perinatal Pathways Lab. Dr. Werner is the Co-Developer (along with Co-Developer Dr. Monk) of Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting (PREPP), a preventive intervention for Postpartum Depression, and serves as the Director of the PREPP Training Program. She also is the Associate Director of Women’s Mental Health @Ob/Gyn, through which she provides clinical care. Dr. Werner specializes in the treatment of mood disorders and stress management, particularly working with women during the perinatal period, during struggles with fertility and during assisted reproduction interventions.

Dr. Werner is a Co-Investigator on several projects funded by the NIH, and has published papers on a variety of topics in the fields of perinatal psychiatry and developmental psychobiology. She was selected as a NIH CHIPS fellow (Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services) and as a New York State Office of Mental Health Policy Scholar.

Marisa Spann

Marisa Spann, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Spann is a clinical neuropsychologist with specialty training in developmental neuroimaging and perinatal epidemiology. She obtained her PhD in clinical psychology at George Washington University. She went on to pursue a clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Neurosurgery. During this time she obtained her masters of public health at Yale School of Public Health. She transitioned to a NIH-funded T32 research postdoctoral fellowship in Translational Child Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). Since diagnostic mental health symptoms are not obvious before preschool to school age, the overarching goal of Dr. Spann’s research is to identify prenatal and infant biomarkers of emerging mental health risk. Her research focuses on how prenatal immune-activating exposures, such as maternal infection, medical conditions, and environmental stressors affect fetal and infant brain (structure and connectivity) and mental health (attention and behavioral reactivity) development. She is involved in ongoing epidemiologic studies utilizing international birth cohorts and clinical studies at CUMC that investigate the role of maternal immune activation during pregnancy as measured by maternal blood/sera on development from the fetal period to childhood. Isolating developmental markers that cut across child psychiatric disorders during this early period of development will help ensure identification of a greater number of children at risk. Her research has been funded through the Gray Matters (Department of Psychiatry at CUMC), Whitaker Developmental Neuropsychiatry Scholar (Marilyn and James Simons Family Giving), TRANSFORM KL2 Mentored Career Development (Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at CUMC and NIH), and Arts & Neuroscience Fellowship (Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in the America at Columbia University) awards.

Vanessa Babineau

Vanessa Babineau, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry at Columbia University. She is the recipient of an NIH K99/R00 Career Development Award. Her research interests are to identify biological and behavioral pathways of intergenerational trauma and risk for mental health disorders that are transmitted across generations in the context of mental health during pregnancy (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder) and transition to parenthood, among persons who have a history of trauma including childhood maltreatment. Mother-child dyads are followed longitudinally to identify associations with fetal and newborn brain-behavior development, early childhood regulation, attachment, and child neurobehavior development and risk for psychopathology. She is also a clinician in PREPP (Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting), a clinical research trial aimed at preventing postpartum depression.

Dr. Babineau also serves as a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Women’s Mental Health @Ob/Gyn, a mental health service within Columbia’s Obstetrics & Gynecology practices. She specializes in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, particularly during pregnancy and postpartum, with trauma-informed care.

Pamela Scorza

Pamela Scorza is Associate Research Scientist in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University. Dr. Scorza studies intergenerational processes in the transmission of risk for poor mental health, with a focus on developing prevention intervention to break cycles of poor mental health in populations exposed to adversities. Dr. Scorza has conducted Global Mental Health implementation research in Rwanda, Burundi, and Peru during doctoral studies at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public health and post-doctoral studies at Columbia University.  Dr. Scorza has expertise in cross-cultural psychiatric epidemiology, global mental health implementation science, and perinatal psychobiology. Her current translational research program focuses on epigenetics and maternal caregiving in longitudinal studies in Puerto Rico, the US, and the UK to identify targets of preventive interventions for mental health.

Jennifer Hammond

Jennifer Hammond, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is a neonatologist at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York Presbyterian. Her research explores the influence of in utero and ex utero exposures on brain-behavior development during critical periods and utilizes non-invasive measures including heart rate, sleep-wake behavior, EEG, and MRI. She is the recipient of a NIH K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, which investigates the impact of the in utero auditory environment and the auditory environment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on early markers of language development using heart rate, auditory event-related potentials, and functional MRI. Her ultimate goal is to apply this knowledge to the design and implementation of interventions that promote experience-dependent plasticity and improve the long-term outcomes of infants.

She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Psychology and received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her training in pediatrics and in neonatal-perinatal medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. 

Grace Liu

Grace Liu, MA, is the Data Manager in the Division of Behavioral Medicine in Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. Grace provides comprehensive data services for the Division including data collection design, data quality checking, data reporting and data customization utilizing SAS, Excel/VBA, and other analytical packages. She also maintains and updates REDCap software and software/database installation supporting all users from the Division. Grace Liu holds a M.A. in Geographical Informational Systems and previously worked as an analyst in the nonprofit sector.

Khadija Jones

Khadija Jones, MPH, is a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, currently holding the position of Clinical Research Manager within the Perinatal Pathways Lab. With a robust background in global health research, Khadija excels in designing, implementing, & evaluating programs aimed at aiding health systems and their diverse patient populations manage multiple chronic conditions on a global scale. Additionally, she possesses proficiency in conducting mixed methods maternal & child health research, with a focus on urban settings.

Khadija's interests lie in breaking down barriers to accessing care, addressing health disparities, and advocating for health equity. She is particularly passionate about women's health across the care continuum, delving into areas such as women's mental health and exploring the intricate relationship between intergenerational trauma, cultural influences, and socioeconomic disparities. Her commitment extends to leveraging research as a catalyst for health equity and utilizing mixed methods research to shape evidence-based, person-centered interventions & sustainable solutions.

Khadija earned her Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology with a minor in Sociology from Binghamton University and furthered her academic journey with a Master in Public Health from Hofstra University.

Danruo Zhong

Danruo Zhong, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University. Dr. Zhong’s research centers on the developmental origins of health and disease (DoHAD), and she studies 1) how early environmental insults before and after birth (during the 1,000 days of life) shape children’s development and health (e.g., cardiometabolic risk); 2) how different developmental domains (e.g., “brain vs. body”) “trade-off” with each other under early stressful circumstances, and its influence on children’s growth and long-term health; 3) how parenting moderates the impacts of early life stress on children, and 4) how intervention efforts promote resilience in both mothers and children who experienced psychosocial stress. Dr. Zhong holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, with a minor in Quantitative Methods.   

Myrriam Grubb

Myrriam Grubb, B.A., graduated from Columbia University in 2022 with a degree in Psychology. She currently coordinates the Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting (PREPP) R01 study, which examines a behavioral intervention targeting maternal caregiving by combining mindfulness skills, psychoeducation, and parenting techniques for pregnant women at risk for postpartum depression. She is interested in integrative behavioral health/primary care models and working with minority and immigrant populations. In the future, Myrriam plans to pursue an MD, specializing in women’s health.

Madalyn Osbourne

Madalyn Osbourne, B.A., is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Long Island University, Brooklyn. She has been in the Perinatal Pathways lab since 2021, where she started by coordinating the Preterm Birth (PTB) R01 study, which examines the relationship between mood, stress, and inflammation, and the racial disparities in birth outcomes. Her graduate research is focused on complex and intergenerational trauma, attachment, and socioeconomic disadvantage and inequality.