Alison Gernand

Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Global Health; Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences

Alison Gernand

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Most Recent Publications

PlacentaNet: Automatic Morphological Characterization of Placenta Photos with Deep Learning

Yukun Chen, Chenyan Wu, Zhuomin Zhang, Jeffery Goldstein, Alison Gernand, J Wang, Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Society Conference 2019 on p. 487-495

Cross-modal contrastive learning for unified placenta analysis using photographs

Yimu Pan, Manas Mehta, Jeffery A. Goldstein, Joseph Ngonzi, Lisa M. Bebell, Drucilla J. Roberts, Chrystalle Katte Carreon, Kelly Gallagher, Rachel E. Walker, Alison D. Gernand, James Wang, 2024, Patterns

Plasma volume is associated with micronutrient mass but not concentration in healthy US women of reproductive age

S. Aguree, L Martin, A Gernand, 2024, Journal of Trace Elements and Minerals

Study protocol: Single blinded, stratified, dose ranging trial to assess pharmacokinetics and identify optimal dose of vitamin B12 in pregnancy in Tanzania

O Lweno, V Reynolds, M Barberio, K Klatt, S Mugusi, M Gopalakrishnan, Z Lukmanji, F Alwy Al-beity, H Ahmadzia, A Arcot, K Gallagher, L Martin, A Rahnavard, Alison Gernand, B Langevin, H Masanja, E Smith, 2024, Gates Open Research

Iron status and anemia in a representative sample of US pregnant women is not associated with pre-pregnancy BMI: Results from the NHANES (1999–2010) study

Mihaela A. Ciulei, Kelly Gallagher, Djibril M. Ba, Celeste Beck, Ruth A. Pobee, Alison D. Gernand, Rachel E. Walker, 2024, PLoS One

Nutrition during Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes

N Perumal, Alison Gernand, 2024, Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism

Assessment of an AI-based tool for population-wide collection of placental morphological data

E. J. Camm, G. Wong, Y. Pan, J. Z. Wang, J. A. Goldstein, A. Arcot, C. N. Murphy, H. Hansji, Y. T. Mangwiro, R. Saffery, M. E. Wlodek, C. S. Wyrwoll, A. D. Gernand, T. J. Kaitu'u-Lino, 2024, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology on p. 110-117

Corrigendum to ‘Nutritious Supplemental Foods for Pregnant Women from Food Insecure Settings: Types, Nutritional Composition, and Relationships to Health Outcomes’ [Curr. Dev. Nutr. 7 (2023) 100094] (Current Developments in Nutrition (2023) 7(6), (S2475299123247678), (10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100094))

M Ciulei, E Smith, N Perumal, C Jakazi, C Sudfeld, Alison Gernand, 2024, Current Developments in Nutrition on p. 104433

Prenatal but not continued postpartum vitamin D supplementation reduces maternal bone resorption as measured by C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen without effects on other biomarkers of bone metabolism

Christine Krupa, Huma Qamar, Karen M. O'Callaghan, Akpevwe Onoyovwi, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Tahmeed Ahmed, Alison D. Gernand, Daniel E. Roth, 2024, Endocrine and Metabolic Science

Defining Appropriate Comparator Populations for Placental Pathology for Pregnant People With HIV

Jeffery A. Goldstein, Alison D. Gernand, Kelly Gallagher, Elisheva D. Shanes, Lisa M. Bebell, Lynn M. Yee, 2024, International Journal of Surgical Pathology

Most-Cited Papers

Micronutrient deficiencies in pregnancy worldwide: Health effects and prevention

Alison D. Gernand, Kerry J. Schulze, Christine P. Stewart, Keith P. West, Parul Christian, 2016, Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology and Metabolism on p. 274-289

Maternal-Fetal Inflammation in the Placenta and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Jeffery Goldstein, Kelly Gallagher, Celeste Beck, Rajesh Kumar, Alison D. Gernand, 2020, Frontiers in Immunology

Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy and lactation and infant growth

D Roth, Alison Gernand, A Al Mahmud, 2018, New England Journal of Medicine on p. 1881

Dietary patterns before and during pregnancy and maternal outcomes: A systematic review

Ramkripa Raghavan, Carol Dreibelbis, Brittany L. Kingshipp, Yat Ping Wong, Barbara Abrams, Alison D. Gernand, Kathleen M. Rasmussen, Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Jamie Stang, Kellie O. Casavale, Joanne M. Spahn, Eve E. Stoody, 2019, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on p. 705S-728S

Plasma volume expansion across healthy pregnancy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Sixtus Aguree, Alison D. Gernand, 2019, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Chorioamnionitis and Risk for Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Celeste Beck, Kelly Gallagher, L Taylor, Jeffery Goldstein, Leena Mithal, Alison D. Gernand, 2021, Obstetrics and Gynecology on p. 1007-1022

Dietary patterns before and during pregnancy and birth outcomes: A systematic review

Ramkripa Raghavan, Carol Dreibelbis, Brittany L. Kingshipp, Yat Ping Wong, Barbara Abrams, Alison D. Gernand, Kathleen M. Rasmussen, Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Jamie Stang, Kellie O. Casavale, Joanne M. Spahn, Eve E. Stoody, 2019, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on p. 729S-756S

Review of the evidence regarding the use of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation in low- and middle-income countries

Megan W. Bourassa, Saskia J.M. Osendarp, Seth Adu-Afarwuah, Saima Ahmed, Clayton Ajello, Gilles Bergeron, Robert Black, Parul Christian, Simon Cousens, Saskia de Pee, Kathryn G. Dewey, Shams El Arifeen, Reina Engle-Stone, Alison Fleet, Alison D. Gernand, John Hoddinott, Rolf Klemm, Klaus Kraemer, Roland Kupka, Erin McLean, Sophie E. Moore, Lynnette M. Neufeld, Lars Åke Persson, Kathleen M. Rasmussen, Anuraj H. Shankar, Emily Smith, Christopher R. Sudfeld, Emorn Udomkesmalee, Stephen A. Vosti, 2019, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on p. 6-21

Maternal Vitamin D status and infant anthropometry in a US multi-centre cohort study

Cara L. Eckhardt, Alison D. Gernand, Daniel E. Roth, Lisa M. Bodnar, 2015, Annals of Human Biology on p. 215-222

Maternal vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy and lactation to promote infant growth in Dhaka, Bangladesh (MDIG trial): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Daniel E. Roth, Alison D. Gernand, Shaun K. Morris, Brendon Pezzack, M. Munirul Islam, Michelle C. Dimitris, Shaila S. Shanta, Stanley H. Zlotkin, Andrew R. Willan, Tahmeed Ahmed, Prakesh S. Shah, Kellie E. Murphy, Rosanna Weksberg, Sanaa Choufani, Rashed Shah, Abdullah Al Mahmud, 2015, Trials

News Articles Featuring Alison Gernand

Apr 23, 2025

Alison Gernand, Penn State University – Vitamin D Matters During the First Trimester of Pregnancy

What role does vitamin D play in pregnancy?

Full Article

Feb 25, 2025

Low vitamin D early in pregnancy tied to preterm birth, decreased fetal growth

Pregnant women with low vitamin D levels during the first trimester were four times more likely to give birth prematurely compared with women with adequate vitamin D levels.

Full Article

Feb 03, 2025

Vitamin D matters during first trimester, researchers find

Low vitamin D levels in the first trimester of pregnancy are associated with higher rates of preterm birth and decreased fetal length, according to a new study led by researchers in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences.

Full Article

Dec 17, 2024

Placenta assessment tool aims to improve neonatal, maternal care

A multi-national, multi-institutional team led by Penn State researchers developed a new tool that enables doctors to examine placentas right at the bedside using just a phone.

Full Article

Dec 11, 2024

Center for Socially Responsible AI awards seed funding to seven diverse projects

The Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) has announced the results of its most recent seed-funding competition.

Full Article

Dec 21, 2022

Chronic inflammation may lead to low milk production in breastfeeding moms

Eighty percent of mothers breastfeed their newborns, but only 25% breastfeed exclusively for the six months recommended by United States Dietary Guidelines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Full Article

Nov 08, 2022

High-tech tool to perform low-cost health screening for newborns and mothers

In 2017, nearly 300,000 women died during or following childbirth, but most of those could have been prevented, according to the World Health Organization. Additionally, four million babies die each year before reaching their first birthday.

Full Article

May 21, 2025

Picture this: Using AI to analyze photographs of the placenta

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University are developing a tool that uses AI to evaluate a picture of the placenta, providing a prediction for multiple adverse outcomes.

Full Article