My current research focuses on the effects of early adverse life experience on brain development and the subsequent behavioural and neuroanatomical changes in both males and females. I am particularly interested in the consequences of exposure to depression, stress or glucocorticoids during pregnancy or the postpartum period and how this affects brain neurochemistry and stress responsivity later in life. Further, my lab studies the effects of early pain exposure as well as medications such as anti-depressants on brain development using rats as the animal model of choice. The research addresses important questions on how exposure to early adverse conditions such as pharmacological treatments can influence the maturation of the nervous system and the long-term outcome of the offspring.
