[Abstract]

According to the fetal-programming model, exposure to stressful or hostile conditions in utero is associated with compromised development and a lifelong risk of adverse health outcomes. In this talk, I will give an overview on our longitudinal cohort study, Growth Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO). I will discuss challenges in imaging young children and show the first evidence revealing antenatal depression influences on brain anatomy and function and genetic modulation on such influences. Our findings suggest that an increased risk for depression may be transmitted from mother to child during fetal life and that the effect is dependent upon infant genotypes.

[Biography]

Dr. Qiu is Dean's Chair Associate Professor at Department of Biomedical Engineering and Clinical Imaging Research Centre at National University of Singapore. She is also a principal investigator at Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences of Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR). Dr. Qiu has been devoted to innovation in computational analyses of complex and informative datasets comprising of disease phenotypes, neuroimages, and genetic data to understand the origins of individual differences in health throughout the lifespan. She received Faculty Young Research Award, 2016 Young Researcher Award of NUS. She has recently been appointed as endowed "Dean's Chair" associate professorship to honour her outstanding research achievements. She serves on the HBM program committee and on several editorial boards.