Kathryn Prendergast

Research Description

Kathryn studies maternal infection in the context of neurodevelopment. As maternal infection is considered a leading environmental risk factor for the development of psychiatric illness and neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, her studies will help uncover how maternal factors before and during pregnancy can influence the trajectory of neurodevelopmental disorders. She is broadly interested in investigating the following important questions: How does a single risk factor account for the variety of neuropsychiatric disorders that can result in offspring? Why do some individuals exposed to maternal infection end up with a dissociative disorder like schizophrenia, while others develop autism spectrum disorder? Kathryn’s molecular and behavioral studies in a mouse model of maternal immune activation are designed to answer these questions. Thus far, Kathryn’s research has shown that the baseline immunoreactivity of the mothers prior to pregnancy is predictive of their balance of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines after an immune insult during pregnancy and behavioral abnormalities in young adult offspring. By identifying predictive biomarkers associated with offspring’s risk to myriad neuropsychiatric disorders it may be possible to create screening systems to identify at-risk offspring in utero and deliver preventative interventions.