Developmental Psychiatry Research Lab

The Developmental Psychiatry Research Lab focuses on the relationships between fetal brain development, early infant and child behavioral and psychophysiological measures, and risk for later mental illnesses such schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While contributing to mental illness prevention strategies is our ultimate goal, we also strive to contribute to early intervention strategies. Our lab is located in the Anschutz Health and Sciences Building on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Our current research focuses on the dietary supplement called phosphatidylcholine (PC) and its potential to improve early brain development in children whose mothers were given the supplement during pregnancy. PC is a form of choline, also called Vitamin B4 or Vitamin J. Choline is a naturally occurring substance that has been identified as an essential nutrient by The Institute of Medicine. It is good for normal growth everywhere in the body, including the brain. Foods such as milk, liver and eggs are good food sources of choline.

Although most people get enough choline in the foods they eat, the need for choline is greater in pregnant women as their babies are rapidly developing new cells. During pregnancy, women increase production of choline within their body, and when combined with the choline they get from their diet, most pregnant women have enough choline for their babies to grow normally. However, some babies may benefit from having their mothers consume additional PC to fill any gaps. Our research is looking to see if PC supplementation in-utero is helpful in the long-term development of children.

In order to answer the bigger questions regarding the benefits to child development of additional PC during prenatal development, our research is asking the following questions along the way:

What is the impact of genetics, nutrition, and environment on fetal brain development?
What parts of the brain are associated with an increased risk for mental illnesses?
How does a mother’s stress level during and after pregnancy impact fetal brain development?
How does maternal infection during pregnancy affect fetal brain development?
How is development different between the group of mothers taking the PC supplement and the group of mothers who do not?
How do we measure brain changes as a child ages?
How does exposure to cannabis products in-utero affect a child's development?
Can we use the answers to these questions to devise new and better treatments for different mental illnesses (e.g. schizophrenia)?
Can we find ways to decrease the number of people who get these major mental illnesses?

To answer these questions, we need the help of pregnant women and their families; being able to collect information during pregnancy through early childhood is key. We need families that span the spectrum: those with no family history of major psychiatric illnesses, those with a family history or individual diagnosis of major psychiatric illnesses, and those in between.

Choline supplementation during pregnancy

Click Here

Choline and Cannabis during pregnancy

Click Here

Dr. Hunter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and is the current Director of the Developmental Psychiatry Research Lab in the Division of Neuroscience. Her research interests focus on behavioral and psychophysiological indices of brain development and function with a goal of understanding relationships between maternal nutrition, prenatal insults, neonatal and early infancy measures of brain functioning and behavior, and cognition and emotion regulation in infancy and early childhood.

Laura Jochens is a Clinical Instructor on the Developmental Research team-she has been with the lab since 2014. Laura attended Baylor University where she earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology and later a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from University of Denver. Her favorite part of her role is getting to work on a project that has such importance and radical implications for how we care for both pregnant moms and babies; it is incredible to see how all of this is changing the face of perinatal mental health in real time. Aside from that, she believes there is nothing more life-giving than working with little ones and watching them grow and learn about their world! Outside of work, Laura enjoys crafts (mostly crocheting and cross-stitching), cooking, pilates, and spending time with her husband, three young children (choline study babies!), and their German-shorthaired pointer, Poppie.

Juliet Ramirez

Juliet Ramirez has been on the team for over three years as a Clinical Research Assistant. She graduated from Florida State University in the Spring of 2019 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Biology and Chemistry. Currently, Juliet is a master's student at CU Denver pursuing a degree in Clinical Mental Health. She thoroughly enjoys completing P50s on babies and creating a fun environment for children that yields important information to the world of developmental science. Outside of work she enjoys hiking, dancing, and cooking with friends.

Eve Delao is a Clinical Research Assistant who has been with the team since April 2023. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado Denver. She has a passion for contributing to the pediatric mental healthcare field. Eve is grateful this position allows her to be a small part of a huge difference in the advancement of the understanding of infant and child development. In her free time, Eve loves to explore the mountains of Colorado, travel to new places, and spend time with her family, friends, and her puppy named Pixie.

Hannah started on the team in June of 2024 as a Clinical Research Assistant. She completed her undergraduate education at Virginia Tech, double majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Originally, Hannah is from Northern Virginia and moved to Colorado to pursue a position as Clinical Research Assistant on the Developmental Research Lab team. She enjoys collaborating with her co-workers and working hands-on with participants to discover novel insights about fetal and child development. In her free time, Hannah loves to spend time with her cat, Maxwell, cook food for her loved ones, read and work out. In her future career, she hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, working to improve the accuracy of treatment and accessibility to mental health resources for Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.

Gabby is a Clinical Research Nurse who joined the team in 2024. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University in 2017, then went on to earn her B.S. in Nursing from Denver College of Nursing in 2021. She has previous nursing experience in neurosurgical intensive care and pediatric outpatient neurology and became a Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse in 2023. Gabby is currently earning her master’s in nursing and healthcare leadership at Regis University. Her favorite part of this role is learning about potential best-practices in real-time, while still getting to engage in patient care. Outside of work, you can find her reading, playing board games/card games, and spending time with her husband and two cats, Wednesday and Gollum.

Learn more about choline

Click Here

NIH on Choline supplementation

Click Here

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Department of Psychiatry

School of Medicine