Rana Chehab, PhD, MPH, RD

rana.chehab@kp.org

Chehab, Rana

Rana Chehab, PhD, MPH, RD, is a staff scientist II at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. Rana earned her BS in Nutrition and Dietetics and her Masters in Public Health with an emphasis on Health Promotion and Community Health from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She then pursued her PhD in Nutrition Science with an emphasis on Population Nutrition and Health Promotion at Purdue University in Indiana. She is also a Registered Dietitian in the US and strives to utilize her clinical and research skills to improve the health and wellbeing of women, children, and future generations.

Her research interests revolve around maternal and child health and health across the life course with a special interest in the first 1,000 days of life and developmental origins of health and disease. She hopes to translate findings from her research to improve health care quality and outcomes for optimal intergenerational health.

At DOR, she is working on projects related to risk factors of glycemic control trajectories and their impact on perinatal outcomes among women with gestational diabetes mellitus. She will also examine microbiota-metabolites-host interactions in association with pregnancy complications and fetal growth outcomes using machine learning algorithms to inform upstream dietary factors and potential preventive targets.

Current Positions

  • Staff scientist II

Section Affiliations

Primary Research Interests

  • Health across the life course
  • Gestational diabetes mellitus
  • Fetal and child growth trajectories
  • Community participatory research
  • Healthcare delivery and policy

Studies

Neighborhood parks, physical activity, and childhood obesity: Insights from the NIH ECHO multisite cohort

This NIH-funded study leverages data from more than 31,000 participants in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program to investigate how access to neighborhood parks during pregnancy and childhood relates to children’s growth trajectories, obesity risk, and body composition from birth through adolescence. By integrating neighborhood-level and individual-level data, this study also explores how physical activity can buffer the potential adverse effects of limited park access—providing actionable insights to inform community and public health strategies that promote healthier futures for children.

Investigator: Chehab, Rana

Funder: National Institutes of Health

Elucidating Neighborhood- and Individual-Level Factors Associated with Pregnancy Glycemia Levels and Childhood Obesity

In this K99R00 Pathway to Independence Award conducted among a cohort of approximately a half million mother-child dyads at KPNC, this project aims to examine how neighborhood-level factors, such as the food environment and walkability, alongside individual-level factors, including diet and physical activity, are associated with the risk of gestational diabetes, glycemic control during pregnancy, and the risk of childhood obesity in offspring. The findings from this research will support the development of a risk-stratified care model for gestational diabetes and childhood obesity, enabling more targeted interventions for vulnerable populations based on both neighborhood and individual-level risk factors.

Investigator: Chehab, Rana

Funder: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Associations between Glycemic Control Trajectories among Individuals with Gestational Diabetes and Obesity Risk and Growth Trajectories in the Offspring

The study will examine the association between glycemic control trajectories among individuals with gestational diabetes (GDM) included in the GDM registry and the risk of childhood obesity and growth trajectories in the offspring. Glycemic control trajectories provide unique insights into glycemic control patterns that account for heterogeneity between individuals with GDM and throughout the pregnancy period between GDM diagnosis and delivery.

Investigator: Chehab, Rana

Funder: KP National Office of Community Health

Publications

Data-Driven Phenotypic Clusters of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Associations With Risk of Perinatal Complications and Postpartum Diabetes

Authors: Zhu Y;Ngo AL;Liao LD;Harvill R;Marafino BJ;Chehab RF;Greenberg MB;Ferrara A

Diabetes Care. 2026 Mar 17.

PubMed abstract

Maternal Obesity, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Offspring’s Body Mass Index Trajectories From Birth to Age 6?Years: Glucose in Relation to Women and Babies’ Health (GrownB) Study

Authors: Hsieh CT;Liu X;Li X;Chehab RF;Zhu Y;Chen L

BJOG. 2026 Mar 07.

PubMed abstract

Gestational Diabetes, Glycemic Management Trajectories, and Offspring Growth Patterns and Obesity Risk

Authors: Chehab RF;Greenberg MB;Lee C;Ngo AL;Feng J;Zhu Y;Ferrara A

Diabetes Care. 2026 Mar 04.

PubMed abstract

Microbiome-related metabolites in early to mid-pregnancy and risk of fetal growth extremes: A metabolome-wide association study

Authors: Zhu Y;Susarla SM;Kwok A;Ngo AL;Chehab RF;Rosen Vollmar AK;Wang EZ;Barupal DK;Fiehn O;Ferrara A

Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Sep 18.

PubMed abstract

A Life-Course Approach to Gestational Exposure to Famine and Risk of Mortality

Authors: Chehab, Rana F;Grandi, Sonia M;Mitro, Susanna D

Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2025 Jan 07.

PubMed abstract

Food Insecurity in Pregnancy, Receipt of Food Assistance, and Perinatal Complications

Authors: Chehab, Rana F;Croen, Lisa A;Laraia, Barbara A;Greenberg, Mara B;Ngo, Amanda L;Ferrara, Assiamira;Zhu, Yeyi

JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jan 02;8(1):e2455955. Epub 2025-01-02.

PubMed abstract

Neighborhood Food Access in Early Life and Trajectories of Child Body Mass Index and Obesity

Authors: Aris, Izzuddin M;Hedderson, Monique M;Zhu, Yeyi;Ferrara, Assiamira;Chehab, Rana F;ECHO Cohort Consortium,;et al.

JAMA Pediatr. 2024 Sep 16.

PubMed abstract

Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Differences in Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Delivery in the US, 2011-2021

Authors: Chehab, Rana F;Ferrara, Assiamira;Grobman, William A;Greenberg, Mara B;Ngo, Amanda L;Wang, Emily Z;Zhu, Yeyi

JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 01;7(5):e2412100. Epub 2024-05-01.

PubMed abstract

Birth outcomes in relation to neighborhood food access and individual food insecurity during pregnancy in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-wide cohort study

Authors: Aris, Izzuddin M;Ferrara, Assiamira;Zhu, Yeyi;Chehab, Rana F;ECHO Awardees and Cohorts,;et al.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2024 Mar 01.

PubMed abstract

In utero metabolomic signatures of refined grains intake and risk of gestational diabetes: A metabolome-wide association study

Authors: Chehab, Rana F; Ferrara, Assiamira; Zheng, Siwen; Barupal, Dinesh K; Ngo, Amanda L; Chen, Liwei; Fiehn, Oliver; Zhu, Yeyi

Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Apr;117(4):731-740. Epub 2023-02-11.

PubMed abstract

Glycemic Control Trajectories and Risk of Perinatal Complications Among Individuals With Gestational Diabetes

Authors: Chehab, Rana F; Ferrara, Assiamira; Greenberg, Mara B; Ngo, Amanda L; Feng, Juanran; Zhu, Yeyi

JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Sep 01;5(9):e2233955. Epub 2022-09-01.

PubMed abstract

Longitudinal Associations of Plasma Phospholipid Fatty Acids in Pregnancy with Neonatal Anthropometry: Results from the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies-Singleton Cohort

Authors: Wang E; Zhu Y; Chehab RF; Wu J; Hinkle SN; Weir NL; Bremer AA; Yang J; Chen Z; Tsai MY; Zhang C

Nutrients. 2022 Jan 29;14(3). Epub 2022-01-29.

PubMed abstract

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