Sandra Weiss, PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. Weiss is the Robert C. and Delphine Wentland Eschbach Chair in Mental Health. Her program of research focuses on the interaction between biological and psychological factors as they impact the mental health of children and adults. She is currently examining precursors of emotion regulation and affective disorders in early childhood, including the ways in which genetic, neuroendocrine, and autonomic nervous system vulnerabilities interact with adverse events such as stress, trauma and parental depression during pregnancy and infancy. Her NIH-funded research is examining: 1) the effects of stress hormones and maternal depression on development of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and stress regulation of preterm and term infants, 2) effects of maternal postpartum depression on mother-infant interaction, and 3) perinatal precursors of infant microbiome development, including antenatal corticosteroids and exposure to maternal depression. In addition, her research with the National Network of Depression Centers is evaluating gender differences in symptom profiles of individuals being treated for depression and pathways to suicidal risk among women. Dr. Weiss is Director of the Stress and Depression Lab at UCSF and is involved in collaborative research with faculty in the Department of Psychiatry, the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and the Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine.