Population, Neurodevelopment and Genetics program

About Us

The Population, Neurodevelopment and Genetics Program (PNG) is a pioneer and leader in forging linkages across disciplinary perspectives. In addition to the program’s current effort to link developmental, cognitive, clinical, public health, and educational science with neurobiology and genetics, we continue to expand our portfolio and involve new research scholars in other health- and development-related topics from prenatal/infancy through adolescence and on to adulthood and aging, (e.g., cognition, substance use, mental health, problem behavior, environmental toxicants), providing opportunities for synergy and integration of new ideas in the relevant fields.

Faculty

Pamela Davis-Kean

Pamela Davis-Kean

Research Professor

Luke Hyde

Luke Hyde

Associate Professor

Daniel Keating

Daniel Keating

Research Professor

Helen Meier

Helen Meier

Assistant Research Scientist

Colter Mitchell

Colter Mitchell

Research Associate Professor

Christopher Monk

Christopher Monk

Research Professor

Fred Morrison

Fred Morrison

Research Professor Emeritus

Jennifer A. Smith

Jennifer A. Smith

Research Associate Professor

Erin Ware

Erin Ware

Research Assistant Professor

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Farrah Ammous
Farah Ammous holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiological Sciences from the University of Michigan, as well as an M.P.H. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a B.Sc. in Biology from the American University in Beirut. Following the completion of her Ph.D., Dr. Ammous was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan. There, she led multiple genetic analyses and authored publications on the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy study and the Health and Retirement Study. Dr. Ammous is highly interested in investigating the interplay of social factors and multi-omics (genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics) underlying chronic diseases and their risk factors. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Survey Research Center, Dr. Ammous will continue her work integrating multi-omics and social science data to gain a deeper understanding of the determinants of health throughout the lifespan.

 

 

Liang Chen
Liang Chen obtained his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from The Ohio State University focusing on urban data science, urban housing and land-use policies, and neighborhood development. Collaborating closely with Dr. Meier, Liang is now actively engaged in a captivating research project exploring historic housing policies and their profound impact on health outcomes.

 

 

Sarah Laurent
Sarah Laurent graduated with her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in December 2023. She is a member of Dr. Helen Meier’s research team and will assist in investigating the impacts of redlining and other place-based factors on health inequities using data from the Health and Retirement Study. 

Research Staff

Edward HuntleyEdward Huntley
Edward Huntley is a Research Area Specialist Senior at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at American University in 2012 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology and behavioral sleep medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan in 2014. His clinical work has focused primarily on evidence based interventions for insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, and other sleep disorders across the developmental spectrum and well as the treatment of anxiety and depression in youth and adults. His research has focused on neurocognitive sequelae of disrupted sleep in youth with chronic medical illness (e.g., obstructive sleep apnea, HIV and functional abdominal pain) and circadian and sleep mechanisms associated with the etiology and treatment depression and PTSD in young adults. His current interest include adolescent health, health risk behaviors, circadian and sleep mechanisms associated with the etiology psychopathology and evidence based interventions for health promotion.

 

Uma Hornish

Uma Hornish joined the PNG team as a member of the inaugural Junior Professional Researcher cohort. Uma graduated from The University of Michigan last spring with a major in biology and a minor in quantitative methods in the social sciences (QMSS). Previously Uma worked as a genetics tutor at the Science Learning Center and blog editor for a student-run social sciences blog. Additionally, she has participated in biostatistics research at the School of Public Health, where her project focused on analyzing methylation differences between ethnic groups. 

 

Quentin Jenkins Jr.

Quentin Jenkins Jr. is an inaugural member of the Junior Professional Research Program at the Institute of Social Research. Quentin graduated from Pitzer College and currently holds a Bachelors in Sociology and Africana studies with honors. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, he is a change agent and advocate for equal opportunity education. Throughout his tenure at Pitzer, he has held many leadership positions being handpicked by the college President to be the Student Representative on Pitzer’s Racial Justice Initiative, a mentor for queer, and Black students, and the Student Representative for the Sociology field group. As a first-generation college student, Quentin hopes to continue his research to dismantle the barriers that students of color face in educational institutions. As an aspiring sociologist of education and Mellon Mays fellow, Quentin’s previous research analyzed the ways that COVID-19 exacerbated the inequalities and inequities for first-gen, low-income students of color in higher education during summer research programs at Harvard and Northwestern.

 

Administrative Staff

Nick Prieur

Nick Prieur

Nicholas Prieur is a Research Process Senior Manager and he serves as PNG’s overall research administrator. In his role he manages all pre-award research activities, financials, HR transactions, restricted project data contracts, IRB’s, and other program needs. He also leads the program’s shared administrative team, with specializations in post award, editing, publication production, social media, website maintenance and computing support. He received his BS from Michigan State University in 2002.

 

Brittni Delmaine

Brittni Delmaine joined PNG as an editor associate and brings with her more than ten years of freelance editing experience. She worked as a high school English teacher in North Carolina for seven years before earning her Master of Arts at the University of Chicago, where she studied post-truth theory and Cormac McCarthy. Most recently she has lived and worked as an academic advisor for first-generation college students at Black Hills State University in South Dakota.

 

Amanda Donovan

Amanda Donovan is a project coordinator for PNG, where she assists with post-award project and financial management. She received her BA in Russian Language and Literature from Michigan State University in 2008.

Catherine Persad

Catherine Persad is PNG’s Administrative Assistant Intermediate. She comes from the Office of the Provost where she served as an executive assistant and project assistant to the Vice Provost for Engaged Learning Team. Before joining the University, Catherine was an elementary teacher and taught Kindergarten-3rd grade. Catherine has a masters of arts in education from as well as a bachelors of science in movement science from the University of Michigan. In her spare time she enjoys taking walks with her Australian shepherd, Dani, baking, and playing sports.