The Perinatal Origins of Disparities (POD) Center is an interdisciplinary research center designed to address the critical scientific gap in understanding multiple influences on health trajectories and disparities. 

The goal of the Center is to identify biomarkers of health trajectories beginning prenatally while simultaneously considering biological, social, behavioral, and community level data to develop, validate, and disseminate preventive interventions for health disparities. The POD Center leverages expertise from genome sciences, epigenetics, human development, epidemiology, toxicology, engineering, social welfare policy, and economics. This approach enhances our capacity to use biological data to personalize interventions and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of our approaches to promote health system integration and health policy change.

POD Center activities focus on three core research threads: Biobehavioral Research, Epidemiological Research, and Implementation Research on clinical and community-based interventions.

Biobehavioral Research

Biobehavioral research investigates the biological factors associated with behavioral and health outcomes in both prospective and retrospective studies of pregnancy in populations experiencing health disparities.

Epidemiological Research

Epidemiological research analyzes extant data from multiple state and national databases and cohorts focused on pre-pregnancy, prenatal, and early infancy exposures.  The research seeks to identify population-based factors associated with disparate birth, early childhood, and adult health outcomes.

Implementation Research

Research in clinical and community-based interventions leverages ongoing prenatal behavioral intervention studies with medically underserved women.  This research obtains input from community partners and stakeholders on how best to develop new, preventive pilot interventions that address risk and resilience factors identified as influential for lifelong health.