EB trainees contribute to all aspects of our research. Our fellows, many of them Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) recipients, have experience and interests across a broad range of areas in perinatal and pediatric epidemiology.
Priscilla Clayton, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Edwina Yeung on the Upstate New York Infant Developing Screening Program (Upstate KIDS) and the Study of Pregnancy And Neonatal health (SPAN). Her current research examines pediatric nutrition and obesity outcomes in children by exploring early dietary patterns and the use of epidemiological approaches. She completed her doctoral degree in nutrition at Florida International University in 2022.
Tesfa D. Habtewold, Ph.D., M.Sc., M.S.N., B.S.N., is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Fasil Tekola-Ayele on the NICHD Fetal Growth Study and SPAN. His research investigates the interplay between cardiometabolic genetic risk, epigenetics, ancestry, and environmental factors on fetal and neonatal growth, and examines how the trajectory of maternal glycemic status during pregnancy is linked with placental epigenetic clocks and fetal/neonatal growth. He completed his doctoral degree in psychiatric and genetic epidemiology at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. He also received a master’s degree in clinical and psychosocial epidemiology and a master’s degree in adult health nursing from the University of Groningen, Netherlands and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, respectively.
Prabhavi Wijesiriwardhana, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Fasil Tekola-Ayele on genetic links between fetal growth and cardiometabolic health using human population cohorts. Her current research examines genetic factors that regulate fetal growth based on gestational windows of pregnancy and the link between oxidative DNA damage and inflammatory markers in maternal plasma during pregnancy and epigenetic aging of placenta. She completed her doctoral degree in genetics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She also received a master’s degree in experimental biotechnology at the Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and a bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science from the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. She was a lecturer at the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka from 2014 to 2023.
Elizabeth Williams (she/her), Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.Ed., CLC, CHES® is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Katherine Grantz on the NICHD Fetal Growth Study and the Fetal 3D Study. Her current work focuses on novel methods of predicting fetal growth trajectories. Her doctoral research, completed at the University of Montana, investigated: the impact of prenatal air pollution exposure on the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; and methodologic implications of geomasking in research on air pollution and its health effects. She additionally holds degrees from The City College of New York and The George Washington University and previously taught mathematics at the middle school, high school, and undergraduate levels.
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