Edmond D Shenassa

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Edmond D Shenassa

Professor, Epidemiology

shenassa@umd.edu

I study social determinants of health, and Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. I have published over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts, chapters, reports and abstracts in these and related areas of inquiry. Much of my work is informed by studies that I either co-led (e.g., the New England Family Studies) or led as the Principal Investigator (i.e., Rhode Island Birth Cohort Study). I have served as a long-term advisor for the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as regional Maternal and Child Health programs.

Department Information

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Public Health

I also investigate the synergy between modifiable determinants of prenatal and perinatal health (e.g., breastfeeding, smoking). Much of this work is based on data I collected as the Principal Investigator of the Rhode Island Birth cohort study, an investigation of in-utero exposure to toxins and physical, cognitive and social development during infancy.

My work has been funded by Maternal and Child Health Bureaus (HRSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Flight Attendant’s Medical Research Institute, and Environmental Protection Agency.

I was named Graduate Mentor of the Year by the University of Maryland Graduate School in 2016 and served as president of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health (ATMCH). I have also served on several editorial boards.

I served as the founding director of the doctoral program in Maternal and Child Health

I have a dual doctorate in Epidemiology and MCH from the Harvard School of Public Health and a master’s in quantitative research methods from UCLA.

Prenatal and Perinatal Epidemiology; Social Epidemiology; Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

University of Maryland Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award

Summer Research and Scholarship Award (RASA) (multiple awards)

Associate Editor (2021-2023), Frontiers in Public Health

Associate Editor (2017-2020)

Preventing Chronic Disease, Public Health Research, Practice and Policy.

Transdisciplinary Science Award. Centers for Behavioral Medicine. Brown Medical

Transdisciplinary Science Award., Centers for Behavioral Medicine, Brown Medical School

New Investigator Symposia Award, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

EPIB610, Foundations of Epidemiology

EPIB688, Critical Readings in Epidemiology

EPIB899, Doctoral Research in Epidemiology

Sc.D., Dual Doctorate in Epidemiology and Maternal and Child Health

Harvard University

MA, Social Research Methods

UCLA

Selected list. Please see my CV for complete list of publications.

Shenassa ED, Botteri E, Stenshiem H. Feeding method, nicotine exposure, and optimal growth during Infancy: The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. In Press. Journal of Pediatrics: Clinical Practice.

*Feng L, Ye Z, Du Z, Pan Y, Liu S, Chen S, Kochunov L, Hong LE, Chen J, Shenassa ED, Ma T. Causal association between allostatic load and accelerated white matter brain aging In Press. American Journal of Epidemiology.

Shenassa ED, Gleason JL, *Hirabayashi K. Fetal Exposure to Tobacco Metabolites and Depression During Adulthood: Beyond Binary Measures. Epidemiology. 2024 Sep 1;35(5):602-609. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001757. Epub 2024 Jul 5. PMID: 38967976.

Shenassa ED, Rogers ML, Buka Sl. Maternal smoking during pregnancy, offspring smoking, adverse childhood experiences and risk of major depression: A sibling design study. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2021 Feb 25;23(3):14. doi: 10.1007/s11920-021-01223-1. PMID: 33630175.

Shenassa ED. Antenatal depression and preterm birth: Pathophysiology, epidemiology, and disparities due to structural racism. Current Psychiatry Rep. 2021 Feb 25;23(3):14. doi: 10.1007/s11920-021-01223-1. PMID: 33630175.

Shenassa ED, Gleason J, De Silva D. Maryland Health Care Commission, Baltimore, MD. Narrative synthesis of risk factors for infant mortality among African American and rural populations in the U.S., 2019.

Gleason J, Shenassa ED, Thoma M. Stressful life events, the incidence of infertility, and the moderating effect of maternal responsiveness: A longitudinal study. J Dev Orig Hlth Dis. 2020. Disease doi: 10.1017/S2040174420000690

Shenassa ED, *Williams A. Area-level poverty, ambient air volatile organic compounds and cardiometabolic dysfunction: A cross-sectional study of US adolescents. Annal Epidemiol. 2020; 48:15-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.05.014

Shenassa ED, Kinsey C, Moser Jones M, Fahey J. Gestational Weight Gain: Historical evolution of a contested health outcome. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2017;72(7):445-453. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000000459.

Downes K, Shenassa ED, Grantz K. Neonatal outcomes associated with placental abruption. Am J Epidemiol. 2017;186(12):1319-1328. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwx202Shenassa ED, Rossen LM, Telomere length and age-at-menopause in the US, Maturitas.2015; 82: 215–221.

Downes K, Grantz K, Shenassa ED. Maternal, labor, delivery, and perinatal outcomes associated with placental abruption: A systematic review. Am J Perinatol. 2017; 34(10):935-957. doi: 10.1055/s-0037-1599149.

Vafai Y, Steinberg J, Shenassa ED. Maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and infant externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Infant Behav Dev. 2016; 42:119-27. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2015.12.002.

Shenassa, E. D., Paradis, A., Dolan, S., Wilhelm, C., and Buka, S. (2012). Childhood impulsive behaviors and problem gambling by adulthood: A 30-year prospective community-based study. Addiction, 107(1), 160-168.

Shenassa ED, Rossen LM. Telomere length and age-at-menopause in the US, Maturitas. 2015; 82(2): 215–221. doi: org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2015.07.009.

Shenassa ED, Papandonatos GD, Rogers ML, Buka SL. Elevated risk of nicotine dependence among sib-pairs discordant for maternal smoking during pregnancy: Evidence from a 40-year longitudinal study. Epidemiology. 2015; 26(3):441-7. doi: 10.1097/EDE. 0000000000000270.

McLaughlin MJ, Speirs KE, Shenassa ED. Reading disability and adult attained education and income: A 30-year longitudinal study of a population-based sample. J Learn Disabil. 2014 Jul-Aug;47(4):374-86. doi: 10.1177/0022219412458323.

Lindberg, R.A., Shenassa, E.D., Acevedo-Garcia, D., Popkin, S.J., Villaveces, A., & Morley, R.L. Housing interventions at the neighborhood level and health: A review of the evidence. J Public Health Management Practice, 2010; 16(5):S44-S52.

Shenassa, E. D., Daskalakis, C., Liebhaber A., Braubach, M., & Brown, M. J. (2007). Dampness and mold in the home and depression: An examination of possible pathways. American Journal of Public Health.

Shenassa, E. D., Liebhaber, A., & Ezeamama, A. E. (2006). Perceived safety of area of residence and exercise: A pan-European study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 163(11), 1012-1017.

Shenassa, E. D., & Brown, M. J. (2004). Maternal smoking and infantile gastrointestinal dysregulation: The case of colic. Pediatrics, 114(4), e497-e506.

Shenassa, E. D., Stubbendick, A., & Brown, M. J. (2004). Social disparities in housing and related pediatric injury: A multilevel study. American Journal of Public Health, 94(4), 633-639.