Embodiment of Stress and Trauma in the Perinatal Period

Kyle Wiley

Recent UCLA post-doctoral researcher

The associations between adverse social experiences and poor health outcomes are well-documented and consistent across societies. My work interrogates intergenerational patterns of health disparities by combining methods and perspectives across biological anthropology, human biology, psychoneuroendocrinology and -immunology, and public health. In this talk, I will use data from several projects in the United States and Brazil to discuss how stress and trauma impact maternal and infant health and development in the perinatal period. Using a biosocial perspective, I will present evidence of 1) the intergenerational consequences of trauma exposure; 2) a novel adaptive immune biomarker of psychological distress during pregnancy; and 3) the influence of early caregiving environments on the infant gastrointestinal microbiome.