Kimberly D’Anna-Hernandez is a Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at California State University San Marcos. Dr. D’Anna- Hernandez received her PhD in Zoology with a Behavioral Neuroscience emphasis. She then performed her postdoctoral work with the Developmental Psychobiology Research Group at the University of Colorado Denver.
Her current work focuses on the role of stress/arousal peptides on maternal behavior in mice and the role of cultural stressors in the prenatal programming of mental health in the Mexican-American maternal-child dyad. More recently, through an NIMH R15 grant, Dr. D’Anna-Hernandez is examining the association between cultural factors (acculturation and cultural values) and increased risk for mental health during pregnancy, as well as evaluating the effect of acculturation on increased stress vulnerability in infants, a significant risk factor for development for mental health disorders.
Email: kdanna@csusm.edu
Current Research Projects
- Role of Prenatal Environment in Psychopathology Risk in Preschool Aged Children of Mexican Descent
- Fetal Programming of Early Brain Development and Emotional Regulation in Infants: The Role of Sociocultural Stressors
Curriculum Vitae
Click to Download (PDF Version)
Publications
For an up to date publications list see ResearchGate