Washington University in St. Louis (WU)
Dr. Kimmel’s research focus is better characterization of stress in pregnancy and postpartum including understanding the interaction between obstetrical complications and stress, depression and anxiety; utilizing and targeting the microbiota-gut-brain axis in the diagnosis and treatment of perinatal depression and anxiety in order to improve long-term mental health outcomes for parent and child. Specific areas of expertise include heart rate variability and the autonomic nervous system, markers of immune tolerance, microbial-related metabolites, gonadal hormones in relation to the gut-brain axis, the relationship of sleep and diet to the microbiome, microbiome-related treatments such as probiotics, methods of assessing the co-regulation of maternal stress and infant stress, and developing and studying methods that increase stress resilience. Other areas of expertise include perinatal OCD, postpartum psychosis, and bipolar disorder in the perinatal and perimenopausal periods. Dr. Kimmel also partners with preclinical scientists to create translational models of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and parental stress.