The Study Team

Ms. Seeni joined the DIPHR epidemiology branch as a post-baccalaureate fellow in 2016. She received her B.S. in Psychology and minor in Biology from St. Bonaventure University in New York. Prior to her time at the NIH, she has worked in epidemiology under the guidance of Dr. Marcel Salathe at Pennsylvania State University. She also spent time working as a research assistant at Stanford University. She plans to pursue M.D. and M.P.H. degrees to study maternal and fetal medicine.

Dr. Mumford is an Earl Stadtman Investigator in the DIPHR Epidemiology Branch. Dr. Mumford earned her doctoral degree in epidemiology from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2009. This training was preceded by a Master’s of Science degree in biostatistics from the Harvard University School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in statistics from the College of Sciences at the Utah State University in 2006 and 2002, respectively. Dr. Mumford’s research interests focus on the relation between diet and the biologic capacity for reproduction irrespective of pregnancy intentions.

Dr. Ha joined NICHD in August 2015 as a postdoctoral fellow. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology/physiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA; and her MPH and PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Dr. Ha is interested in studying risk factors (particularly environmental) that influence the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes; and how these risk factors and adverse pregnancy events can affect subsequent health for both mothers and babies.

Dr. Lipsky joined the Health Behavior Branch as a postdoctoral fellow in 2010 and became a staff scientist in 2011. She earned her Ph.D. in nutrition from Cornell University and her MHS in international health (human nutrition program) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include using intervention and observational methods to understand determinants and health outcomes of eating behaviors and obesity throughout the lifespan

Dr. Perkins is a statistician who joined the Epidemiology Branch in 2003 as an IRTA fellow and as a staff scientist since 2008. He received a Master of Science degree in mathematics from Fayetteville State University and a Doctorate degree in statistics from American University. His research interests involve epidemiological methods such as receiver operating characteristic curves, biomarker calibration and measurement error and cost saving designs.

Dr. Sjaarda joined the Epidemiology Branch of NICHD in 2012 as a fellow and began her role as Staff Scientist in 2014. She received a Ph.D. in Reproductive Biology from the University of Wyoming, Center for the Study of Fetal Programming and an M.S. in Animal & Poultry Sciences from Virginia Tech. Dr. Sjaarda also completed two years of postdoctoral training in clinical research in the Department of Pediatrics, in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include the developmental origins of obesity and its comorbidities (e.g. diabetes, metabolic syndrome), pregnancy, and male and female infertility, including polycystic ovary syndrome.

Dr. Grantz is an Investigator in the DIPHR Epidemiology Branch. She received her M.D. at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She completed her fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Magee-Women's Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and received her master's degree in clinical research from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Grantz's overarching research goal is to provide evidence for improved clinical management of pregnancy complications.

Dr. Weck received a B.S. from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics from the University of Virginia where she worked with Margaret Shupnik studying transcriptional regulation of pituitary genes involved in female reproduction. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University under the guidance of Kelly Mayo and was a Research Assistant Professor at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine as well as at Washington State University prior to coming to the NIH.

Dr. Chen is a tenure track investigator in the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Branch at NICHD. He obtained his Ph.D. in statistics in 2001 at University of Connecticut, and was a Research Fellow at NIEHS from 2001 to 2003. He served as an Assistant Professor (Clinical Educator track) in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2008 and joined NICHD as a Staff Scientist in 2008 before becoming an investigator in 2009. His research interests are in Bayesian methods, diagnostic accuracy, and statistical analysis under constraints, with applications in epidemiological studies in human reproduction and development.