Perinatal Epidemiology Fellows

PRE-DOCTORAL

1. Mallory Doan is a graduate of Michigan State University with a BS in statistics and human biology. She currently works with Dr. Nigel Paneth on his Archive for Research on Child Health program and was recently accepted into the PhD program in epidemiology. Mallory has a strong interest in perinatal epidemiology which she will be developing through her participation in the T32 fellowship program. (2008-2010)

2. Peterson Haak has worked, since his graduation from Grand Valley State University, as a research associate in the microarray laboratory at the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids. He enrolled in the MSc and PhD program in epidemiology in August 2007. He participates in the development of a case-control study of cerebral palsy, in which his particular interest is the study of differences in gene expression at birth (as reflected in archived newborn blood spots obtained for genetic screening) in children with and without cerebral palsy. (2007-2009)

3. Crystal Pirtle Tyler, MPH. A graduate of Spelman College, Crystal has an MPH in epidemiology from the University of Michigan and joined the PhD program in the Department of Epidemiology at MSU in 2006. Her research interests are in the area of racial and socio-economic health disparities. While at MSU, she has studied the relationship between area-level socio-economic position and cervical cancer incidence as well as socio-demographic influences on cerebral palsy. Crystal’s dissertation examines state- and individual-level influences on racial disparities in infant mortality. (2007-2009)

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS

1. Nicole Jones, PhD. (2009-2010)

2. Yona Keich Cloonan, PhD received a degree in epidemiology from the University of Washington, Seattle in August 2007. She has been involved for several years in both etiologic and outcomes research in children with congenital craniofacial anomalies. Her doctoral work investigated sleep outcomes in children with hemifacial microsomia, and she is currently working on projects focused on neurobehavioral and cognitive functioning in children with craniofacial anomalies. Beyond this, she is developing studies to investigate both the etiology and long-term health-related outcomes of single-suture craniosynostosis. (2007-2009)

3. Eric Kort, MD is jointly appointed as a research fellow with the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids. He received the MSc in epidemiology from MSU before enrolling for the MD degree at MSU, which he completed in 2006. His interest in molecular epidemiology was apparent in his MS thesis, entitled: “Her2/Her3 Heterodimers: Molecular Epidemiology Marker and Method of Analysis”. His current research focuses on molecular epidemiologic approaches to perinatal carcinogenesis, with a special interest in microRNAs in the perinatal period, including their relationship to normal development and to the pathogenesis of childhood cancers. (2006-2008)

4. Renée Mijal, PhD, MPH is an environmental health scientist interested in exploring how environmental exposures occurring in women of childbearing age affect pregnancy outcomes and women's health. For her PhD work at the University of Minnesota, she investigated the repair of DNA damage caused by tobacco-specific nitrosamines. Later at the University of Leeds, she contributed to a project whose aim was to better assess and characterize exposure to dietary carcinogens and immunotoxicants during pregnancy. As a post-doctoral fellow at MSU, she is currently studying metal exposures and antecedents to pre-term birth. (2008-2010)

5. Rob Payne, MD is a neonatologist who has practiced for many years at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. He has a long standing interest in measuring and improving the quality of NICU care, especially for very low birth weight babies. He is also interested in the epidemiology of gastroschisis. (2008-2009)

6. Nicole Talge completed her PhD work in child psychology at the University of Minnesota in the summer of 2007. Her doctoral thesis addressed the relationships among birthweight, temperament, emotional difficulties and cortisol responses to stress. In her post-doctoral work, she will extend her work to use epidemiologic approaches to study how the prenatal and post natal environments interact to affect child social development as well as investigate why birth weight is predictive of various long-term outcomes. (2007-2009)