Erica P. Gunderson, PhD, MS, MPH

People

Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
2000 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612

510-891-5917 (phone)
erica.gunderson@kp.org
Kaiser Permanente Researcher Profiles

Erica Gunderson is an epidemiologist and Senior Research Scientist whose overall research area encompasses the epidemiology of the origins of obesity and chronic diseases in women during the reproductive years as influenced by pre-pregnancy risk factor status, reproductive characteristics, pregnancy course and outcomes, and lactation. She received her Doctorate in Epidemiology and the Warren Winkelstein Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies in Epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley (UCB). She also earned both MPH and MS degrees from UCB, and a BS degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Her research focuses on the long-term impact of pregnancy and lactation on the development of obesity, cardiovascular disease risk factors, type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease in women during mid-life. Her research also investigates the role of pregnancy complications as predictors of future diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life, with a particular interest in the high-risk group of women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus, and other adverse pregnancy outomes. In addition, she studies the offspring exposed to maternal obesity and diabetes in utero and future obesity. She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed original research papers and reviews.

Current Position(s):

Research Scientist III, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Life course evaluation of reproductive factors, pregnancy outcomes and critical periods affecting maternal obesity, and cardiometabolic health, and future progression to type 2 diabetes and CVD in women
Predictive modeling for hypertension and CVD in women
Metabolomics based on machine learning for prediction of incident T2D in young women across the childbearing years
Early fetal and postnatal life modifiable behaviors and temperament influencing obesity and cardiometabolic disease in children
Fetal life and early postnatal metabolic programming of metabolism and adiposity. Racial and ethnic disparities and developmental programming of metabolism

Related Website(s):

The SWIFT Study

Studies

Fetal and Early Postnatal Influences on Child Metabolic Health After Gestational Diabetes

This 5-year RO1 study will determine the independent contribution of fetal exposures and early postnatal lifestyle factors on subsequent development of child adiposity and metabolic health among youth (ages 9 to 13 ) exposed to gestational diabetes in utero. The research study will evaluate cardiometabolic health factors and lifestyle behaviors in youth whose mothers were diagnosed with gestational diabetes and enrolled in the prospective, longitudinal SWIFT Study from 2008 to 2011. This study will conduct an in-person research exam and will coordinate the research exams in the children with 10-year follow up exams in the SWIFT women to reclassify glucose tolerance.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Metabolites Preceding Progression to Type 2 Diabetes in Women after Gestational Diabetes

This study will identify biochemical markers that predict type 2 diabetes mellitus in women after a pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Ultimately, the results of this study may lead to improved testing and more effective, personalized interventions to prevent diabetes in women after GDM pregnancy.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Gestational diabetes phenotypes, glucose tolerance transitions and lifestyle behaviors related to cardiovascular risk status

The Study of Women, Infant Feeding, and Type 2 Diabetes after GDM Pregnancy (SWIFT) is a prospective, community-based cohort of mothers aged 20-45 years of age and diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who delivered a singleton pregnancy longer than 35 weeks gestation at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2008-2011. The new study leverages the SWIFT cohort's rich datasets, and measures blood pressure and novel biomarkers in blood samples obtained at the NIDDK funded 10-year follow up exam. The goal of this ancillary study will evaluate the relationship of GDM phenotype and subsequent transitions in glucose tolerance after GDM pregnancy to cardiovascular disease risk profiles, inflammation, and novel lipid biomarkers as well as effect modification by lifestyle behaviors.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Prenatal Blood Pressure Patterns to Predict Pregnancy-Related Hypertension and Later-Life Cardiovascular Risk

This study utilizes clinical prenatal-care blood pressure measurements and other clinical and biochemical variables to develop models for the early prediction of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and evaluates the relationship of pregnancy blood-pressure patterns to new onset hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in women within more than a decade later.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Pregnancy-Related Risk Factors and Glucose Intolerance in Women during Midlife

This is an ancillary study to the CARDIA Study, a multi-center longitudinal study of 5,115 black and white women and men (18-30) enrolled in 1985-1986, and followed at in-person exams serially through 2011. The study will evaluate pregnancy-related changes in cardiometabolic risk factors and their lasting effects on progression to glucose intolerance in women from the reproductive years through midlife.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Lactation and Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus in CARDIA Women

The goals of our study are to prospectively examine whether longer duration of lactation is associated with development of type 2 diabetes in women of reproductive age during the 25-year CARDIA study period (1986-2011) and assess changes in risk factors. We will identify changes in cardiometabolic risk factors and biomarkers linked to incident type 2 DM as well as lactation, and examine duration of lactation for all pregnancies in relation visceral fat levels in mid-life.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Highlighted Publications

Pregnancy and Subsequent Glucose Intolerance in Women of Childbearing Age: Heeding the Early Warning Signs for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women.

Author(s): Gunderson, Erica P EP; Jaffe, Marc G MG

JAMA internal medicine. 2017 12 01;177(12):1742-1744. Epub --.

Current Position(s):

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Related Website(s):

Studies

Fetal and Early Postnatal Influences on Child Metabolic Health After Gestational Diabetes

Metabolites Preceding Progression to Type 2 Diabetes in Women after Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes phenotypes, glucose tolerance transitions and lifestyle behaviors related to cardiovascular risk status

Prenatal Blood Pressure Patterns to Predict Pregnancy-Related Hypertension and Later-Life Cardiovascular Risk

Pregnancy-Related Risk Factors and Glucose Intolerance in Women during Midlife

Lactation and Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus in CARDIA Women

Highlighted Publications

Pregnancy and Subsequent Glucose Intolerance in Women of Childbearing Age: Heeding the Early Warning Signs for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women.

Association of Infant Temperament With Subsequent Obesity in Young Children of Mothers With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Longer lactation duration is associated with decreased prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in women

Breastfeeding and growth during infancy among offspring of mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort study

Lactation Duration and Progression to Diabetes in Women Across the Childbearing Years: The 30-Year CARDIA Study

Dietary variables associated with substantial postpartum weight retention at 1-year among women with GDM pregnancy

Lactation and Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Lactation intensity and fasting plasma lipids, lipoproteins, non-esterified free fatty acids, leptin and adiponectin in postpartum women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus: the SWIFT cohort.

Pregnancy during adolescence has lasting adverse effects on blood lipids: A 10-year longitudinal study of black and white females

Epidemiology of peripartum cardiomyopathy: incidence, predictors, and outcomes

A 20-year prospective study of childbearing and incidence of diabetes in young women, controlling for glycemia before conception: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Long-term plasma lipid changes associated with a first birth: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study

Publications

Cancer and Cardiovascular Risk in Women With Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Carrying a Common IGF1R Variant

Diminished Sphingolipid Metabolism, a Hallmark of Future Type 2 Diabetes Pathogenesis, Is Linked to Pancreatic β Cell Dysfunction

Underlying dyslipidemia postpartum in women with a recent GDM pregnancy who develop type 2 diabetes

Life Course Changes in Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Associated With Preterm Delivery: The 30-Year CARDIA Study

Changes in Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Before and After Gestational Diabetes: A Prospective Life-Course Analysis in CARDIA Women

Amino acid and lipid metabolism in post-gestational diabetes and progression to type 2 diabetes: A metabolic profiling study

Pregnancy and Subsequent Glucose Intolerance in Women of Childbearing Age: Heeding the Early Warning Signs for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women.

Life-Course Reproductive History and Cardiovascular Risk Profile in Late Mid-Life: The CARDIA Study

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes

A longitudinal study of pre-pregnancy antioxidant levels and subsequent perinatal outcomes in black and white women: The CARDIA Study

Links Between Childhood Obesity, Gestational Diabetes, and Infant Temperament-Reply

Fasting glucose variability in young adulthood and incident diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality

Association of Infant Temperament With Subsequent Obesity in Young Children of Mothers With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Association of breastfeeding and gestational diabetes mellitus with the prevalence of prediabetes and the metabolic syndrome in offspring of Hispanic mothers

Pre-pregnancy kidney function and subsequent adverse pregnancy outcomes

The discovery of novel predictive biomarkers and early-stage pathophysiology for the transition from gestational diabetes to type 2 diabetes

Longer lactation duration is associated with decreased prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in women

Duration and stability of metabolically healthy obesity over 30 years

Breastfeeding and later maternal risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease - The role of overall and abdominal obesity

Breastfeeding and Future Maternal Health-No Causal Evidence-Reply

Blood Pressure Patterns and Subsequent Coronary Artery Calcification in Women Who Delivered Preterm Births

Breastfeeding and growth during infancy among offspring of mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort study

Pre-Pregnancy Fitness and Risk of Gestational Diabetes: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Pre-pregnancy endothelial dysfunction and birth outcomes: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Elevated Medium Chain-Acylcarnitines are Associated with Gestational Diabetes, and Early Progression to Type-2 Diabetes, and Induce Pancreatic β-Cell Dysfunction

Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise Hemodynamics and Birth Outcomes: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Lactation Duration and Progression to Diabetes in Women Across the Childbearing Years: The 30-Year CARDIA Study

Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus following Gestational Diabetes Pregnancy in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Association Between Gestational Diabetes and Incident Maternal CKD: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Gravidity is not associated with telomere length in a biracial cohort of middle-aged women: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study

Dietary variables associated with substantial postpartum weight retention at 1-year among women with GDM pregnancy

Hospital Supplementation Differentially Impacts the Association Between Breastfeeding Intention and Duration Among Women With and Without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus History

In-Hospital Breastfeeding Experiences Among Women with Gestational Diabetes

Testosterone Levels in Pre-Menopausal Women are Associated With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Midlife

Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior

The Kaiser Permanente Northern California research program on genes, environment, and health (RPGEH) pregnancy cohort; study design, methodology and baseline characteristics.

A Predictive Metabolic Signature for the Transition from Gestational Diabetes to Type 2 Diabetes

Preterm Delivery and Metabolic Syndrome in Women Followed From Prepregnancy Through 25 Years Later

The Association of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus With Left Ventricular Structure and Function: The CARDIA Study

​The Comparative Effectiveness of Diabetes Prevention Strategies to Reduce Postpartum Weight Retention in Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus; The Gestational Diabetes' Effects on Moms (GEM) Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Racial Differences in the Performance of Existing Risk Prediction Models for Incident Type 2 Diabetes: The CARDIA Study

Lactation and Progression to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Lactation Duration and Midlife Atherosclerosis

Maternal prepregnancy waist circumference and BMI in relation to gestational weight gain and breastfeeding behavior: the CARDIA study

The study of women, infant feeding and type 2 diabetes after GDM pregnancy and growth of their offspring (SWIFT Offspring study): prospective design, methodology and baseline characteristics

Marriage and parenthood in relation to obesogenic neighborhood trajectories: The CARDIA study

Excess body mass index- and waist circumference-years and incident cardiovascular disease: The CARDIA study

Maternal gestational weight gain and offspring risk for childhood overweight or obesity

Lactation intensity and fasting plasma lipids, lipoproteins, non-esterified free fatty acids, leptin and adiponectin in postpartum women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus: the SWIFT cohort.

History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Future Risk of Atherosclerosis in Mid-life: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Prepregnancy SHBG Concentrations and Risk for Subsequently Developing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Impact of breastfeeding on maternal metabolism: implications for women with gestational diabetes

Maternal prepregnancy obesity and insulin treatment during pregnancy are independently associated with delayed lactogenesis in women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus

The Role of Lactation in GDM Women

Changes in weight and health behaviors after pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus: The CARDIA study

The Comparative Effectiveness of Diabetes Prevention Strategies to Reduce Postpartum Weight Retention in Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus; The Gestational Diabetes' Effects on Moms (GEM) Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.