Women, babies beneficiaries of Coussons-Read's research
Mary Coussons-Read’s research will have a profound impact for generations to come. Coussons-Read, associate professor of psychology, is a psychoneuroimmunologist whose research investigates how stress affects immune functioning in pregnant women and their infants. For the breadth of her research, she received the Department of Psychology Excellence in Research and Creative Activities award for 2006.
“This is ground-breaking work that promises both to elucidate the mechanisms linking behavior, brain and immunity and to suggest therapeutic interventions to reduce stress effects on pregnant women and their offspring,” notes Peter Kaplan, chair of the Department of Psychology.
Coussons-Read reports in her most recent paper, published in Psychosomatic Medicine, that prenatal stress alters the circulating levels of cytokines (regulatory proteins, such as the interleukins and lymphokines, that are released by cells of the immune system and act as intercellular mediators in the generation of an immune response) that might put the pregnancy at risk.
She also authored several comprehensive reviews of the literature on the psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) of pregnancy, making her one of the leaders in the field. She recently delivered an invited address at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting and one at the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society.
All this research benefits her students as well as the field of PNI research. Coussons-Read has integrated research and teaching by involving graduate and undergraduate students in her work. She established the bachelor’s degree program in psychology at the university and has presented a symposium on teaching PNI to students.
Coussons-Read’s work also extends far beyond research. Her commitment to service includes chair of Faculty Assembly and member, CU System Faculty Council and Faculty Council Executive Committee, the System Constitution and Bylaws Committee, the UCD Chancellor’s Executive Committee and the Academic Master Plan Steering Committee.