Biological Anthropology of Motherhood Lab on Strikingly

Principal Investigator

Molly Fox, Ph.D.
Associate professor
Department of Anthropology
Department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences
UCLA
Within the frameworks of evolutionary and developmental biology, my research focuses on maternal and grandmaternal transgenerational transmission of genes, phenotypes, life-history patterns, and disease risk. I synthesize information from molecular, clinical, epidemiological, and anthropological research towards understanding the evolutionary context of human health and disease, family and societal structure, and addressing global health challenges.

Click here to link to my electronic CV
Mothers' Cultural Experiences study
"Mothers' Cultural Experiences" is a research study about women’s cultural identities, preferences, and experiences, and how these relate to the biology of pregnancy. Knowledge gained from this study may improve our ability to measure how women adjust to new cultures and ways of life, and why moving to a new culture affects people’s health differently. We're also interested in how women's experiences may affect health across generations in minority communities.

Female reproductive physiology may be at the nexus of immigrant socio-cultural experiences and trans-generational decline in health. The Mothers’ Cultural Experiences (MCE) study is a 2-wave, multi-site project designed to evaluate how the socio-cultural changes that occur with immigration among Latino Americans may become ‘biologically embedded,’ and in the case of pregnant women, could affect certain biological pathways that influence fetal developmental programming of offspring chronic disease risk. Any aspect of the mother’s life that affects her physiology during pregnancy has the potential to transmit differential signals to the developing fetus and thereby play a role in shaping offspring traits. We propose that acculturation, socio-cultural context, political victimization, and social support networks could influence relevant systems in pregnancy biology involved in fetal development. Our hypothesis may offer an explanation for why epidemiolgists observe declining health across generations among Latino Americans despite improving socio-economic status.

This project has been funded by the NIH NIDDK and NIMHD, and from as two internal UCLA grants: Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Core Voucher Award, and Center for the Study of Women Faculty Research Grant.
LINK TO STUDY WEBSITE
Development of the human infant microbiome and cognitive function
The first year of life represents a sensitive period of development for both the intestinal ecosystem and the central nervous system. This project investigates how disturbance in the complex assembly of gut microbiota affects development of the brain. The gut and brain are physiologically linked in a bi-directional communication and control system. While a growing body of research implicates this ‘gut-brain axis’ in adult disease etiology, little is known about how the gut-brain axis functions in infant development.

This project has been funded by two seed grants from the UCLA California Center for Population Research and DNA Genotek.
Alzheimer's Life History project
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that involves signatures of disease throughout the whole body, not just the brain. Identifying peripheral risk factors and pathogenic processes across the lifespan has the potential to reveal new targets of intervention before major neurodegeneration occurs. My work focuses on hormone dynamics and the ability to suppress inflammation as key biomechanisms through which certain AD risk and resilience factors may exert their effects. The lifespan risk and resiliance factors on which I focus are female reproductive life-history (a woman’s own history of pregnancies, breastfeeding, etc) and symbiotic microbiota (microorgansisms, such as bacteria, that live in the human body without causing disease).

I adopt an evolutionary medicine approach to advance an argument that recent changes in reproductive life-history and symbiotic microbiota have enhanced AD risk. Long lifespan is a hallmark feature of the human species and natural selection may have favored this trait because of our reliance on intelligence and functional competence during later life phases. Yet almost nothing is known about when AD emerged alongside the history of humans living into old age. My work addresses this issue.

We are currently conducting a pilot study, recruiting women as participants along with their family members, from the Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Olive-View-UCLA Medical Center. This pilot project was funded by a UCLA Hellman Fellowship and a UCLA Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Faculty Career Development Award.

Correlary Project: How women’s reproductive life-history relates to cognitive decline and neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
There is a critical need to understand conditions across the lifespan that may contribute to sex and gender differences in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) etiologies. We focus on reproductive history, the most fundamental contributor to sex-specific health effects. Pregnancy and lactation are sensitive periods of plasticity for human mothers as well as other mammals. During these life phases, permanent, re-organizing effects transpire in various physiological systems, including the brain. Therefore, it is plausible that women’s reproductive patterns modify the risks and mechanisms involved in neuropathogenesis across the lifespan. We will analyze data collected from 7,479 post-menopausal women age 65+ who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Memory Study (WHIMS) and from the subset of 2,304 women in the WHI Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA). We will also conduct new measurements of brain atrophy in existing MRI images that were collected from the subset of 1,403 women in the WHIMS-MRI study. We will use a highly sensitive, voxel-wise approach that is powerful for visualizing sub-regional patterns of disease-related atrophy.
Students involved in this project are part of the UCLA Student Research Program in Women's Brain Health

This project is funded by a grant from the NIH National Institute of Aging (NIA)
LINK TO STUDY WEBSITE
PUBLICATIONS
Click on article title to download PDF

37. Kyle S. Wiley, Dayoon Kwon, Delaney A. Knorr, Molly M. Fox. (2023) Regulatory T-cell phenotypes in prenatal psychological distress. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 116:62-69.

36. Molly M. Fox, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Curt A. Sandman, Jessica A. Marino, Laura M. Glynn, Elysia Poggi Davis (equal contribution of first authors) (2023) Mothers’ Prenatal Distress Accelerates Pubertal Development in Daughters. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 160: 106671.

35. Dayoon Kwon, Delaney A. Knorr, Kyle S. Wiley, Sera L. Young, Molly M. Fox. (2023) Association of pica with cortisol and inflammation among Latina pregnant women. American Journal of Human Biology. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.2402

34. Delaney A. Knorr, Molly M. Fox. (2023) Maternal Grandmothers Buffer the Relationship Between Ethnic Discrimination and Psychological Distress Among Pregnant Latina Mothers. Evolutionary Human Sciences. e24025

33. Kyle S. Wiley, Andrew M. Gregg, Molly Fox, Venu Lagishetty, Jonathan P. Jacobs, Laura M. Glynn. Newborn social experiences are associated with composition of the infant gut microbiome across the first year of life. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. DOI:10.1002/ajpa.24858.

32. Kristine J Chua, Delaney A Knorr, Janelly Jimenez, Arlene Francia, Valeria Rojas, Jhoana Infante Garcia, Molly Fox. What Do Your Neighbors Think About You? How Perceived Neighbor Attitudes Toward Latinos Influence Mental Health Among a Pregnant Latina Cohort. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01684-5

31. Kyle S. Wiley, Molly M. Fox, Theresa E. Gildner, and Zaneta M. Thayer. "A longitudinal study of how women's prenatal and postnatal concerns related to the COVID‐19 pandemic predicts their infants' social–emotional development." Child Development (2023).

30. Delaney A. Knorr, Molly Fox. 2023. An evolutionary perspective on the association between grandmother-mother relationships and maternal mental health among a cohort of pregnant Latina women. Evolution and Human Behavior. 44(1), 30-38.

29. Kyle S. Wiley, Delaney A Knorr, Kristine J Chua, Samantha Garcia, Molly Fox. (2023) Sociopolitical stressors are associated with psychological distress in a cohort of Latina women during early pregnancy. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23065.

28. Molly Fox, Delaney A. Knorr, Dayoon Kwon, Kyle S. Wiley, Michael H. Parrish. “How prenatal cortisol levels relate to grandmother-mother relationships among a cohort of Latina women.” American Journal of Human Biology. (2023) Online before print. e23883. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23883

27. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, Athena Aktipis, Carl T. Bergstrom, Molly Fox, Peter D. Gluckman, Felicia M. Low, Ruth Mace, Andrew Read, Paul E. Turner, and Daniel T. Blumstein. (2023) The Future of Evolutionary Medicine: Accelerating Understanding, Innovation, and Application of Evolutionary Principles in Biomedicine. Frontiers in Science. DOI 10.3389/fsci.2023.997136

26. Molly Fox. (2022) How demographics and concerns about the Trump administration relate to prenatal mental health among Latina women. Social Science and Medicine. Online ahead of print. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115171

25. Hanadi Ajam Oughli, Sarah Nguyen, Prabha Siddarth, Molly Fox, Michaela Milillo, Helen Lavretsky. (2022) The Effect of Cumulative Lifetime Estrogen Exposure on Cognition in Depressed versus Non-Depressed Older Women. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. online ahead of print. doi: 10.1177/08919887221090216.

24. Molly Fox. Evolutionary Perspectives on Alzheimer’s Disease. (2022) In: Evolutionary Psychiatry: Current Perspectives on Evolution and Mental Health, edited by Dr Riadh Abed and Dr Paul St John-Smith. Cambridge University Press. [book chapter, in press]

23. Molly Fox and Kyle S. Wiley. (2022) How a pregnant woman’s relationships with her siblings relate to her mental health: a prenatal allocare perspective. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. 10(1), 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoab044

22. Molly Fox, Prabha Siddarth, Hanadi Ajam Oughli, Sarah A Nguyen, Michaela M Milillo, Yesenia Aguilar, Linda Ercoli, Helen Lavretsky. (2021) Women who breastfeed exhibit cognitive benefits after age 50. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. 9(1):322-31

21. Molly Fox, S. Melanie Lee, Kyle S. Wiley, Venu Lagishetty, Curt A. Sandman, Jonathan P. Jacobs, Laura M. Glynn. (2021) Development of the infant gut microbiome predicts temperament across the first year of life. Development and Psychopathology. In press doi:10.1017/S0954579421000456

20. Molly Fox. (2021) Discrimination as a moderator of the effects of acculturation and cultural values on mental health among pregnant and postpartum Latina women. American Anthropologist. 123(4), 780-804.

19. Molly Fox, Delaney A. Knorr, Kacey M. Haptonstall (2019) Alzheimer’s Disease and symbiotic microbiota: an evolutionary perspective. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nyas.14129

18. Molly Fox. (2018) ‘Evolutionary medicine' perspectives on Alzheimer's Disease: Review and new directions. Aging Research Reviews. 47 (2018) 140-148, doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2018.07.008
http://bit.ly/evmedAlzreview

17. Molly Fox, Carlo Berzuini, Leslie A. Knapp, Laura M. Glynn. (2018) Women's pregnancy life-history and Alzheimer's risk: can immunoregulation explain the link? American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias. doi: 10.1177/1533317518786447
http://bit.ly/pregalzimmune

16. Laura M. Glynn*, Mariann A. Howland*, Molly Fox*. (2018) Maternal programming: Application of a developmental psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology. 30 (2018), 905–919. http://bit.ly/maternalprogramming

15. Molly Fox, Zaneta M. Thayer, Isabel F. Ramos, Sarah J. Meskal, Pathik D. Wadhwa. (2018). Prenatal and Postnatal Mother-to-Child Transmission of Acculturation’s Health Effects in Hispanic Americans. Journal of Women's Health. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2017.6526. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jwh.2017.6526

14. Molly Fox, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn. (2018) A longitudinal study of women's depression symptom profiles during and after the postpartum phase. Depression and Anxiety. 2018:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22719

13. Molly Fox, Zaneta Thayer, Pathik D. Wadhwa. (2017) Acculturation and Health: The Moderating Role of Sociocultural Context. American Anthropologist. 119(3): 405–421.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aman.12867/abstract

12. Molly Fox, Laura M. Glynn. (2017) Fetal programming of gender. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender. K Nadal, Ed. SAGE Publications, Inc.: Thousand Oaks. Link to Full Text

11. Molly Fox, Zaneta Thayer, Pathik D. Wadhwa. (2017) Assessment of acculturation in minority health research. Social Science & Medicine. 176: 123-132.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617300369

10. Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Molly Fox, Laura Glynn. (2016) Demonstration of Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid CRH Levels during Pregnancy Provides Support for (Not Against) the Link between CRH and Postpartum Depression. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 101(2):L5-6
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jc.2015-3798

9. Molly Fox, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn. (2015) Intra-individual consistency in endocrine profiles across successive pregnancies. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 100 (12): 4637-4647.
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-2620

8. Molly Fox, Sonja Entringer, Claudia Buss, Jessica DeHaene, Pathik Wadhwa. (2015) Intergenerational transmission of the effects of acculturation on health in Hispanic Americans: a fetal/developmental programming perspective. American Journal of Public Health. 105(S3): S409-S423.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302571

7. Paul W. Andrews, Kyowon R. Lee, Molly Fox, Aadil Bharwani, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr. (2014) Is serotonin an upper or a downer? The evolution of the serotonergic system and its role in
depression and the antidepressant response. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 51, 164–188.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763415000287

6. Molly Fox, Carlo Berzuini, Leslie A. Knapp. (2013) Cumulative estrogen exposure, number of menstrual cycles, and Alzheimer's risk in a cohort of British women. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 38(12), 2973–2982. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.08.005.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453013002941

5. Molly Fox, Corey L. Fincher, Paul W. Andrews, Leslie A. Knapp. (2013) Hygiene and the world distribution of Alzheimer’s Disease. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. doi: 10.1093/emph/eot015.
http://emph.oxfordjournals.org/content/2013/1/173

4. Molly Fox, Carlo Berzuini, Leslie A. Knapp. (2013) Maternal breastfeeding history and Alzheimer’s risk. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 37 (4), 809-821. doi: 10.3233/JAD-130152
http://iospress.metapress.com/content/gr8353774g62515l/

3. Molly Fox, Johannes Johow, Leslie A. Knapp. (2011) The Selfish Grandma Gene: The Roles of the X- Chromosome and Paternity Uncertainty in the Evolution of Grandmothering Behavior and Longevity. International Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2011, Article ID 165919, 9 pages.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21716697

2. Johannes Johow, Molly Fox, Leslie A. Knapp, Eckart Voland (2011). The presence of a paternal grandmother lengthens interbirth interval following the birth of a granddaughter in Krummhörn (18th and 19th centuries). Evolution and Human Behavior. 32 (5), 315-325.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513810001261

1. Molly Fox, Rebecca Sear, Jan Beise, Gillian Ragsdale, Eckart Voland, Leslie A. Knapp. (2010). Grandma plays favourites: X-chromosome relatedness and sex-specific childhood mortality. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277 (1681), 567-573.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19864288
PhDs and Postdocs

Delaney Knorr
PhD student
Delaney Knorr is exploring topics of women’s health and disease from an evolutionary perspective. Her focus centers on the immunological changes mounted during pregnancy, and the effect those changes have on the individual through their life-course and the subsequent generation.
Kyle Wiley, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kyle Wiley is an NIH F32 fellow funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).
LAB GROUP
UCLA grad students
Current members: Delaney Knorr, Adiba Hassan, Dayoon Kwon, Ingrid Cely, S. Madigan Durham, Emma Dixon
Former members: Davis Mai, Hash Brown Taha, Andrew Balayan, Valeria Vasquez, Kotrina Kojokaite, Jackelyn Moya, Kristine Chua, Lorena Espinoza, Nichole Evans, Andrew Mitchel, Kacey Peters, Ainsley Belisle, Michael Parrish, Amanda Reshke

UCLA undergrad students
Current members: Desiree Eshraghi, Melanie Krahn, Jackeline Barragán, Lexi Tempera, Owen Pogue, Amy Mai, Kaleigh Olla, Jessica Tieu, Sonel Raj, Sam Manxi Yang, Ruby Wu, Kerilyn Matson, Laila Majeed, Anusha Chadhaury, Ashna Kumar, Emily Zhu, Darren Chen, Elizabeth Clem, Marcus Chang, Minh-Anh Pham, Ann Ding, Anjali Kalindi, Saba Honarvar
Former members: Danielle Taylor, Alan Liang, Alexandria Lee, Kate Elliott, Melanie Fun, Emily Wang, Khoa Tran, Phuong Tran, Andrew Osgood, Sarah Meskal, Jenneffer Vazquez, Michelle Tenggara, Olivia Schulist, Waania Beg, Zoe Hull, Allison Lipschitz, Celeste Castro, Janelly Bernice, Katherine Najarro, Alex Tenorio, Cynthia Zarate, Armen Akopyan, Michelle Herrera, Michelle Silva, Gladys Bello, Megan Blatt, Allison Whang, Cate Remphrey, Bethany Ru, Jhoana Garcia, Paulina Salas, Janelly Jimenez, Samantha Garcia, Leticia Camacho, Paulina Salas, Briauna Archer, Valeria Rojas, Andy Estrada, Gladys Bello, Erin Hu, Megan Kirshner, Sunny Xiao, Karina Acevedo, Monica Gonzalez, Arlene Francia, Julissa Robles, Jennifer Cruz, Joan Moci, Jocelyn Franco, Resham Irfan, Sharli Liang, Katie Phan, Jessica Li, Agamroop Kaur, Tony Davalos, Sadie Waldie, Sidney Shah, Sila Sorezi, Sanam Patel, Mathangi Swaminathan, Nandini Borkar

UC Irvine students, former: Itzel Garcia, Micaela Maciel, Valeria Calvillo, Elizabeth Flores

Other schools + Postbac
Former members: Andrea Ambor, Anthony Sanabria, Kristin Gasca, Allen Siegler, Maria Klingler; Julia Rothschild, Amberly Gangi, Julia Barnett, Tian Walker, Zenaida Flores, Coralia Guandique, Jessica Percic

2021-2022
(MCE meeting)
2020-2021
2018-2019
2018-2019
2017-2018
UNDERGRADUATE PRESENTATIONS
DARREN CHEN and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Examining the impact of gravidity on regulatory T-cell populations in pregnant women."
DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, AMY MAI*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of pregnancy unwantedness on peripheral inflammation levels in pregnant women."
ASHNA KUMAR*, LAILA MAJEED*, RUBY WU*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "The effects of relationship status on mother-child bonding and postpartum depression."
KALEIGH OLLA and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of hormonal birth control usage on cognitive outcomes in postmenopausal American women."
OWEN POGUE and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the link between menopause, estrogen loss, and Alzheimer's disease in women."
LEXI TEMPERA, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the relationship between gravidity and inflammation during pregnancy in a cohort of Latina women."
JESSICA TIEU, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Psychological impact of acculturation pressures in Latina pregnant women."
DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, JACKLENINE BARRAGAN*, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2023). “Exploring optimism about moving to the U.S. in relation to prenatal stress among a cohort of pregnant foreign-born Latina women.”
BRIAUNA ARCHER*, DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, SUNNY XIAO*, Davis Mai, Lorena Espinoza, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “Menopausal onset and symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease onset.”
DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, JULISSA ROBLES*, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “A mixed methods approach to exploring postpartum depression and COVID-19-related worries in Latina women.”

GROUP PHOTOS
Student research presentations and fun activities
Apply to get involved!
Please get in touch by filling in the form below. I'm always looking for new ways to connect with colleagues and students! Are you interested in joining my lab as a research assistant or graduate student? I work with undergrads, gap year students, Masters students, and other graduate students (e.g. in medicine or other health sciences) as research assistants in the projects described above.

RAs must commit to a minimum of 9-months with the lab. Please highlight any experience doing lab bench work that involves pipetting.

If you are interested in applying the UCLA PhD program in Biological Anthropology to work with me as your primary mentor, I am particularly looking for graduate students interested Alzheimer's Disease, autoimmunity, biomechanisms of aging, pregnancy, placental physiology, lactation, mother-infant development, or any of the topics described on this website.

Principal Investigator

Molly Fox, Ph.D.

Associate professor
Department of Anthropology
Department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences
UCLA

Mothers' Cultural Experiences study

Development of the human infant microbiome and cognitive function

Alzheimer's Life History project

Correlary Project: How women’s reproductive life-history relates to cognitive decline and neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

PUBLICATIONS

PhDs and Postdocs

Delaney Knorr

PhD student

Kyle Wiley, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

LAB GROUP

2021-2022

2020-2021

2018-2019

2018-2019

2017-2018

UNDERGRADUATE PRESENTATIONS

DARREN CHEN and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Examining the impact of gravidity on regulatory T-cell populations in pregnant women."

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, AMY MAI, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of pregnancy unwantedness on peripheral inflammation levels in pregnant women."

ASHNA KUMAR, LAILA MAJEED, RUBY WU*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "The effects of relationship status on mother-child bonding and postpartum depression."

KALEIGH OLLA and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of hormonal birth control usage on cognitive outcomes in postmenopausal American women."

OWEN POGUE and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the link between menopause, estrogen loss, and Alzheimer's disease in women."

LEXI TEMPERA, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the relationship between gravidity and inflammation during pregnancy in a cohort of Latina women."

JESSICA TIEU, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Psychological impact of acculturation pressures in Latina pregnant women."

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, JACKLENINE BARRAGAN, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2023). “Exploring optimism about moving to the U.S. in relation to prenatal stress among a cohort of pregnant foreign-born Latina women.”

BRIAUNA ARCHER, DESIREE ESHRAGHI, SUNNY XIAO*, Davis Mai, Lorena Espinoza, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “Menopausal onset and symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease onset.”

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, JULISSA ROBLES, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “A mixed methods approach to exploring postpartum depression and COVID-19-related worries in Latina women.”

GROUP PHOTOS

Student research presentations and fun activities

Apply to get involved!

Principal Investigator

Molly Fox, Ph.D.

Associate professorDepartment of AnthropologyDepartment of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciencesUCLA

Mothers' Cultural Experiences study

Development of the human infant microbiome and cognitive function

Alzheimer's Life History project

Correlary Project: How women’s reproductive life-history relates to cognitive decline and neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

PUBLICATIONS

PhDs and Postdocs

Delaney Knorr

PhD student

Kyle Wiley, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

LAB GROUP

2021-2022

2020-2021

2018-2019

2018-2019

2017-2018

UNDERGRADUATE PRESENTATIONS

DARREN CHEN and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Examining the impact of gravidity on regulatory T-cell populations in pregnant women."

DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, AMY MAI*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of pregnancy unwantedness on peripheral inflammation levels in pregnant women."

ASHNA KUMAR*, LAILA MAJEED*, RUBY WU*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "The effects of relationship status on mother-child bonding and postpartum depression."

KALEIGH OLLA and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of hormonal birth control usage on cognitive outcomes in postmenopausal American women."

OWEN POGUE and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the link between menopause, estrogen loss, and Alzheimer's disease in women."

LEXI TEMPERA, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Exploring the relationship between gravidity and inflammation during pregnancy in a cohort of Latina women."

JESSICA TIEU, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Psychological impact of acculturation pressures in Latina pregnant women."

DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, JACKLENINE BARRAGAN*, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2023). “Exploring optimism about moving to the U.S. in relation to prenatal stress among a cohort of pregnant foreign-born Latina women.”

BRIAUNA ARCHER*, DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, SUNNY XIAO*, Davis Mai, Lorena Espinoza, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “Menopausal onset and symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease onset.”

DESIREE ESHRAGHI*, JULISSA ROBLES*, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “A mixed methods approach to exploring postpartum depression and COVID-19-related worries in Latina women.”

GROUP PHOTOS

Student research presentations and fun activities

Apply to get involved!

Associate professor
Department of Anthropology
Department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences
UCLA

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, AMY MAI, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "Determining the effect of pregnancy unwantedness on peripheral inflammation levels in pregnant women."

ASHNA KUMAR, LAILA MAJEED, RUBY WU*, S. Madigan Durham, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2024). "The effects of relationship status on mother-child bonding and postpartum depression."

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, JACKLENINE BARRAGAN, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2023). “Exploring optimism about moving to the U.S. in relation to prenatal stress among a cohort of pregnant foreign-born Latina women.”

BRIAUNA ARCHER, DESIREE ESHRAGHI, SUNNY XIAO*, Davis Mai, Lorena Espinoza, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “Menopausal onset and symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease onset.”

DESIREE ESHRAGHI, JULISSA ROBLES, Delaney Knorr, Dr. Kyle Wiley, and Dr. Molly Fox. (2022). “A mixed methods approach to exploring postpartum depression and COVID-19-related worries in Latina women.”