Catherine Monk, PhD

Catherine Monk, PhD, is a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Research Scientist VI at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.  Dr. Monk oversees the integrated women’s mental health program in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Dr. Monk’s research brings together the fields of psychopathology, developmental psychobiology, developmental neuroscience, and perinatal psychiatry to focus on the earliest influences on children’s developmental trajectories—those that happen in utero—and how to intervene early to prevent mental health problems. She collaborates with colleagues to include biological and psychological processes in her research, e.g., using MRI techniques to study variation in brain development related to prenatal maternal factors such as distress and poor nutrition, examining gene expression in placentas related to similar maternal variables. Her research has been continuously funded by NIH since her NIMH Career Development award in 2000.