Principal Investigator
Stephanie Eick , PhD, MPH
Dr. Eick is an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist. Her research focuses on the health effects of environmental chemical and non-chemical (i.e., psychosocial) stressors during pregnancy. She has a particular interest in chemical mixtures, as well as understanding how non-chemical stressors can amplify the harmful effects of chemicals. She is also interested biomarkers of stress response, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, and better understanding the biological mechanisms leading to adverse pregnancy and child health outcomes. Her research has been funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dr. Eick is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals, which provides independent scientific advice, information and recommendation to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Prior to joining Emory, Dr. Eick was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco with the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. She is involved with multiple ongoing, prospective birth cohorts.
PhD Students
Jasmin Eatman, MS
Jasmin Eatman is a 2017 graduate of Spelman College where she received her Bachelors degree in Biology. She graduated with her Masters degree in Neuroscience in 2018. Upon graduation, she was accepted into Emory University School of Medicine’s MD/PhD program. Jasmin deferred her matriculation into medical school for one year and, during this time, she lived and worked in Ecuador as a medical volunteer. With aspirations of a career in medicine as an Obstetrician-Gynecologist, she is now a fifth-year medical student in the MD/PhD program at Emory and is completing her PhD through the department of Environmental Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. Her research in the REPRO lab and doctoral thesis focuses on exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and non-chemical psychosocial stress exposures, including racial discrimination, and their impacts on Black maternal morbidity. Jasmin’s present passions and future career aspirations include advocating for maternal health equity, diversity in medical education and advancing standards of healthcare access and delivery through policy.
Neha Sehgal, MPH
Neha is a 2nd year PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences, curiously exploring mixture effects of environmental chemicals and maternal stress on early developmental trajectories and how these effects are mediated by epigenetic regulations.
Her research interests are shaped by her educational background in cellular biology and public health and inspired by her experiences in India and the U.S. Following her PhD, Neha looks forward to a career in academia and being involved in teaching and researching the intersection of environmental chemicals exposures, epigenetics, and maternal and child health in understudied populations.
Kaitlin Taibl, MSPH
Kaitlin Taibl is a PEO Scholar, T32 trainee, and third-year doctoral candidate in the Environmental Health Sciences program at Emory University. She researches how environmental exposures during the first 1,000 days of life affect maternal and child health outcomes with cell-based assays, exposomics, and epidemiologic methods. She is an active member of the NIH P30 HERCULES Center and NIH ECHO Program. Kaitlin’s long-term goal is to strategize about preventatives, diagnostics, and therapeutics for chemical toxicity and non-chemical stress during critical growth periods as a principal investigator at a research institution.
Youran Tan, MSPH
I am currently a Ph.D. student in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health. I graduated from the department of Epidemiology for a master’s degree at Emory University in 2021. My research interests include exploring molecular mechanisms underlying endocrine disrupting chemical exposure-related health impacts, especially applying mixture and omics methods to explore the effect of environmental chemical exposures on maternal and child health.
Manuela Celia-Sanchez
Manuela is a first year PhD student in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Emory University. She received her B.S. in Environmental Biology and Mathematics from Wingate University in 2021. Her research interests are in chemical and psychosocial stressors and their impact on maternal and child health, with an emphasis on underrepresented groups.
MPH Students
Madeline Chandler
Madeline is a North Carolina native and a BSPH (biostatistics) graduate of UNC Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. At Emory, she is pursuing a dual degree program, earning both an MPH in epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health and an MDiv from the Candler School of Theology. She is interested in researching religion as a social determinant of health, particularly in the areas of drug-related harms and sexual health. Madeline’s goal is to pursue a PhD in social epidemiology with the intent to produce research that can assist religious communities in leveraging themselves as a resource for marginalized communities.
Kat Springer
MPH Student (EH)
Graduate Research Assistant
Alumni
McKenzi Thompson, MPH student in epidemiology (2021-2023)
Aminah Keyes, MPH student in environmental health (2022-2023)