From Dec 2024: Hannah Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., on Autism, the Placenta & the Developing Brain

Originally released in December 2024, this conversation is being re-released as part of a selection of guest interviews from the podcast archive.

For today’s episode, Dr. Hanna Stevens joins me to discuss prenatal brain development and the complex relationship between the placenta, maternal environment, genetics, and the developing brain. Dr. Stevens received her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois and leads the Psychiatry and Early Neurobiological Development Lab at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where she is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and holder of the Ida P. Haller Chair.

We discuss the placenta, prenatal stress, serotonin, cortisol, immune function, genetics, and autism, exploring how events before birth may influence brain development and later behavior. This conversation offers a fascinating look inside the womb and at an increasingly important question: when and how do differences in neurodevelopment begin?

Dr. Hanna Stevens https://medicine.uiowa.edu/psychiatry/profile/hanna-stevens

Iowa Healthcare https://uihc.org/childrens/providers/hanna-e-stevens

Psychiatry and Early Neurobiological Development Lab (PENDL) https://stevens.lab.uiowa.edu

Publications https://stevens.lab.uiowa.edu/publications

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