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Epigenetic effects on children’s psychosocial development in a randomised trial of folic acid supplementation in second and third trimester (EpiFASSTT)
EpiFASSTT is a biopsychosocial approach investigating the effects of maternal folate status during the second and third trimester of pregnancy on cognitive, social and emotional development of the offspring.
We explore how this correlates with epigenetic changes in the genome at birth and whether these changes persist throughout the lifetime.
This will reveal the extent to which environmental stressors can affect a person’s future health and generate new knowledge in an area of current public health importance.
Funder: ESRC/BBSRC
Dr Marian McLaughlin
Senior Lecturer
Dr Marian McLaughlin is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Psychology at Ulster University. She has over 15 years’ experience of teaching within Higher Education and was the previous Associate Head of School and Academic Lead for Education within the School of Psychology. She is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Centre for Higher Education and Research Practice.
Marian is a Charted Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She is also Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Division of Health Psychology and member of the Children’s Research Network. She has over 20 years’ experience of conducting research in health psychology. Her main research interests are in the area of child health and well-being, in particular, theoretical applications for the design and evaluation of behavioural change interventions.
Current projects and collaborations include: the design and evaluation of an HPV educational resource; testing the feasibility of including young people experiencing intellectual disability in health and wellbeing research; and theoretical investigations into the factors influencing oral health, e-cigarette use and decision making among women in menopausal transition. She has attracted significant grant income receiving funding from the BBSRC/ESRC, the R&D Office, the Health Services Executive, Baily Thomas and the Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke.
Marian uses this research to inform her teaching and is responsible for teaching research methods and models and applications in health psychology. She is Year 1 Tutor within the School and in this role she has received several nominations for her Excellence in Learning and Teaching and Student Support. She has held several Faculty administrative roles and was a member of the Self-Assessment Team for the School’s Athena Swan Bronze and Silver Awards. She has supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students to date, including 12 PhD students.
