BUILD Lab
Biosocial Underpinnings in Learning & Development
BUILD Lab: Broader Impacts
Through our work on the Baby Microbiome study, our lab works with other researchers at the Center for Children’s Health, the Environment, the Microbiome, and Metabolomics (C-CHEM2) at Emory. This center provides important information about the effects of exposure to toxic substances in the environment on the infant microbiome and infant neurodevelopment to the public. It is our hope that this work will guide and/or promote environmental exposure prevention efforts. We - and the rest of C-CHEM2 - are particularly interested in sharing this knowledge with African American women and families in the Atlanta metropolitan area. This is achieved through an integrative approach in which community partners, staff, and research scientists inform each other on how and what environmental health concerns are relevant, accessible, and culturally appropriate.
Learning resources regarding environmental exposures and child health can be found on the C-CHEM2 webpage.
Additional information about the environment, the infant microbiome and preterm birth can be found by clicking here!
Find Us in the News!
Former graduate student, Dr. Cassie Hendrix, was recently interviewed for an article featuring the findings of her dissertation.
Check out the article here!
Our graduate students are passionate about promoting science education and engaging in community outreach activities!
Current graduate students have served as teaching assistants and have taught their own independent courses. Our graduate students have been awarded teaching fellowships and awards for their service. BUILD lab graduate students are also involved in programs at Emory that promote science education and environmental citizenship in local schools. Finally, our graduate students have spoken to a community Doula program about infant development, have provided video segments for a Emory student-led psychoeducational program for teen mothers, and have volunteered at educational programs for families of children affected by chronic pain and sickle cell disease.
We also conduct research in collaboration with the Emory Child Study Center. Click here to learn more about the exciting research opportunities available through the child study center.
In 2017, the BUILD lab participated in Science.Art.Wonder, a program that emphasizes the connection between visual art and scientific research, and uses this connection to draw public awareness to science through a visually intuitive means. The BUILD lab partnered with Emory undergraduate artist, Yibo Zhao, to collaborate over the course of the semester and produce two pieces of artwork based on the lab's research. The pieces, shown to the left, were presented at a university-wide symposium and at the Atlanta Science Festival.
The artist was inspired by the ongoing Baby Microbiome Study, which investigates the role of the gut-brain axis in child cognitive and social-emotional development, as well as the influence of the maternal environment and microbiome on these factors.
The pieces are titled Organic Networking (far left) and Symbiosis (left).