Jeanne Alhusen, PhD, CRNP, RN — associate dean for research, professor of nursing, and an award-winning scholar and mentor — researches ways to improve maternal mental health and, consequently, early childhood outcomes, particularly for families living in poverty. In 2021, she earned a $1.9M NICHD grant to study the experiences that women with disabilities have related to reproductive care, violence, and psychosocial stress, work that was informed by a two-year NIH-funded pilot study and is PI on a HRSA grant examining infant outcomes in mothers experiencing perinatal intimate partner violence.
She received a K23 from NINR which is focused on understanding the biological and psychological underpinnings of maternal attachment and maternal depression. Additionally, she has current research support from AWHONN, the American Nurses Foundation, and Fahs-Beck to test an intervention incorporating self-management support for perinatal depression, and its influence on infant outcomes.
Dr. Alhusen earned her BSN from Villanova University, an MSN from Duke University, and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Medicine in 2013. As a board-certified advanced practice family nurse practitioner, she brings extensive professional nursing experience with a particular interest in the health disparities in maternal and child health.