Meet the Stress Pregnancy and Health Team! 

Dr. Miller is the Principal Investigator of the SPAH project, Co-director of the FHRC, and a Professor of Psychology at Northwestern. He has won multiple awards for his research, and received grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations to support this work.

His current research is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Previous studies have been supported by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Michael Smith Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the American Heart Association.

Dr. Miller has received a number of honors for his research, including the Young Investigator Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Early Career Award from the American Psychosomatic Society, and the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions from the American Psychological Association. He is President Elect of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. Dr. Miller was Associate Editor of the journals Psychological Bulletin (2010-2014) and Psychosomatic Medicine (2008-2011). He is presently a Consulting Editor at both of these journals, and the journals, Brain, Behavior, & Immunity, and Clinical Psychological Science.

Ann E.B. Borders, M.D., MSc, M.P.H., is the Co-Principal Investigator for the SPAH study. Dr. Borders joined NorthShore University Health System Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Evanston Hospital in August 2012 and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine.

Dr. Borders’ research focuses on investigating determinants of adverse pregnancy outcomes in vulnerable populations, with a focus on chronic maternal stress and preterm birth. In addition to the SPAH study, Dr. Borders is PI of an NICHD R01 study exploring how group prenatal care might mitigate stress-induced disparities in birth outcomes by analyzing blood and placental biomarkers from RCT participants in Greenville, SC.

Dr. Borders also serves as the Executive Director and Obstetric Lead for the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative, a collaborative focused on improving health outcomes for parents and newborns through quality improvement with over 100 birthing hospitals in Illinois. Dr. Borders is a member of the ACOG Committee on Obstetrics Practice and ex-officio member of the Committee on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.

Linda Ernst, M.D., M.H.S. is a co-investigator for the SPAH study. Dr. Ernst joined the Northshore University Health System Department of Pathology, Division of Perinatal Pathology and Autopsy Pathology in 2017. Her research interests include placental pathology and its relationship to maternal, fetal, and neonatal disease, as well as vascular development. She’s interested in defining the value of postmortem examination in stillbirth, defining distinct patterns of umbilical cord coiling associated with the highest risk of stillbirth, and uncovering genetic alterations carrying a risk for stillbirth.

Dr. Ernst received her M.D. from University of Connecticut Health Center in 1999. She completed a Pediatric Pathology Fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2005.

Lauren Keenan-Devlin Ph.D, MPH is a Research Scientist at Northshore University HealthSystem in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Research Assistant Professor with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Her research focuses on inflammatory and sociocultural pathways that underlie racial and economic disparities in perinatal outcomes, including preterm birth and breastfeeding. Dr. Keenan-Devlin received her PhD/MPH in Medical Anthropology at Northwestern in 2014.

Alexa Freeman Ph.D, joined the SPAH team as a postdoctoral fellow in July 2018. Her research focuses on how maternal exposures, including psychological stress, affect fetal development and birth outcomes. She is particularly interested in the underlying biological mechanisms, including alterations in placental development and function.

Dr. Freeman earned her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2018 and her B.A. from the University of Rochester in 2013.

Renee is a research coordinator for the Stress Pregnancy and Health study at NorthShore University HealthSystem. Her research interests include trauma-informed reproductive health care and understanding how stress, particularly resulting from sexual violence, affects reproductive health outcomes. Prior to joining SPAH, Renee’s research has focused on maternal and child mental health and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Renee earned her BS in Human Biology, Health, and Society in 2020 from Cornell University, and her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from University of Illinois Chicago in 2022.

Claire is the Northwestern University coordinator of the Stress, Pregnancy and Health (SPAH) Study. She graduated from DePaul University in 2018 with a BA in Psychology and has since worked in research across the lifespan grounded in psychology, public health and health services. She joined the SPAH Kids team mid-2022 because of her interest in how stress can have detrimental effects on maternal health and child development. Claire has a passion for music, exploring new restaurants around Chicago, and spending time by the lakefront. Claire received her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Northwestern in 2023 and is interested in the population health implications of health disparities in stress and wellbeing.

Margaret Butler is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University and joined the SPAH team in October 2019. Applying mixed methods and a biosocial approach, her dissertation research examines the relationship between breastfeeding and postpartum depression among Chicagoland birthing parents.

In addition to her graduate studies, Margaret became a certified lactation counselor in 2018 and is an active member of the Chicago Region Breastfeeding Task Force. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Ithaca College in 2017.

Janedelie is the Research Manager for the Stress Pregnancy and Health Study at NorthShore University Health System. Her research interests include understanding the effects of socioeconomic disparities in health care, as well as how cultural and psychological stress affect health outcomes in both perinatal and pediatric settings.

Prior to joining SPAH Kids, Janedelie worked for as a research assistant and research coordinator for the predecessor study to SPAH Kids: The Stress, Pregnancy, and Health Study (SPAH). Janedelie’s previous work has centered itself in cultural stress and social support. Janedelie earned her BA in Biology in 2018 from Lawrence University.