Making mothers: Pregnancy, birth and epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene

College of Nursing Visiting Scholar

When

10 – 11 a.m., March 17, 2025

Where

College of Nursing, Room 470
1305 N. Martin Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721
Attendees are invited to join in CON 470 or by Zoom. See attached flyer for meeting link/QR Code or contact Debra McMaster at mcmaster@arizona.edu.
 

Event Description

College of Nursing is pleased to host Allison Perkeybile, PhD as a visiting scholar.

Presenter details

Allison Perkeybile, PhD
Senior Scientist, Department of Psychology
University of Virginia

Perkeybile’s research explores factors that contribute to individual differences in health and behavior across the lifespan. She completed her PhD at the University of California, Davis studying the ways in which early life biparental care influences developmental trajectories in social behavior and stress physiology in offspring. As a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, she worked to understand how natural birth and birth interventions influence epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene by DNA methylation in new mothers and in their offspring. Now as a Senior Scientist at the University of Virginia, her research continues to focus on consequences of the birth experience in both mothers and babies. She uses an animal model to investigate how genetic variability in the oxytocin receptor gene and environmental influences contribute to health and behavior outcomes following natural birth and birth interventions.