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:

Effects of pregnancy-related risk factors on pregnancy course and outcomes, and future risk of obesity, metabolic conditions and cardiovascular disease in women and adolescents
Lactation and progression to type 2 diabetes, as well as lasting effects on maternal metabolism and cardiovascular risk
Gestational diabetes mellitus and future cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes in women, and child outcomes
Breastfeeding and the relationship to infant growth, metabolism and development of child overweight and obesity
Racial and ethnic disparities and developmental programming of metabolism

Studies

Shared Antecedents to Preterm Birth and Cardiovascular Disease in Women

We will conduct secondary data analysis of women in the CARDIA study that leverages existing data (biomarkers assays funded by Dr. Gunderson’s ancillary study R01 to CARDIA) to evaluate the relation of pre-pregnancy inflammation to the occurrence of preterm birth, and to determine whether the inflammatory profile is exacerbated following pregnancy, perhaps contributing to excess cardiovascular risk in affected women. This study will provide key preliminary data to then explore novel mechanisms (epigenetic, multiplex inflammatory markers) that may uniquely contribute to accelerated cardiovascular disease in women with a history of preterm birth.
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

Biomarkers to Predict Type 2 Diabetes

The goal of this study is to develop a simple biomarker signature that can predict future type 2 diabetes with excellent specificity, sensitivity and precision.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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

Inequality in Family Leave and Maternal and Child Health Outcomes

This study will evaluate the impact of paid family leave policies and job protection on parental leave taking, child care arrangements, and child and mother health outcomes during the 1-2 years following birth of a child. The study, a collaboration between American Institutes for Research and KPDOR, will involve a survey of eligible women about their pre- and post-birth employment, whether and for how long post-birth family leave was taken and whether employer-paid leave was used, childcare arrangements, family demographics, breastfeeding practices, and mother-child bonding. Survey data will be linked with health and health care utilization data for both baby and mother for up to 1-2 years after birth.
Investigator: Gunderson, Erica
Funder:

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

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

Author(s): Gunderson EP; Hurston SR; Dewey KG; Faith MS; Charvat-Aguilar N; Khoury VC; Nguyen VT; Quesenberry CP

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2015;15:150. Epub 2015-07-17.

Current Position(s):

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Studies

Shared Antecedents to Preterm Birth and Cardiovascular Disease in Women

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

Biomarkers to Predict Type 2 Diabetes

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

Inequality in Family Leave and Maternal and Child Health Outcomes

Lactation and Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus in CARDIA Women

Highlighted Publications

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

Study of Women, Infant Feeding, and Type 2 diabetes mellitus after GDM pregnancy (SWIFT), a prospective cohort study: methodology and design

Epidemiology of peripartum cardiomyopathy: incidence, predictors, and outcomes

Childbearing and obesity in women: weight before, during, and after pregnancy

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

Epidemiology of gestational weight gain and body weight changes after pregnancy

Publications

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 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

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

Peripartum cardiomyopathy: population-based birth prevalence and 7-year mortality

Impact of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus on Pubertal Changes in Adiposity and Metabolic Profiles in Latino Offspring

Preterm Birth and Future Maternal Blood Pressure, Inflammation, and Intimal-medial Thickness: The CARDIA Study

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

Study of Women, Infant Feeding, and Type 2 diabetes mellitus after GDM pregnancy (SWIFT), a prospective cohort study: methodology and design

Multivitamin use and breast cancer outcomes in women with early-stage breast cancer; the Life After Cancer Epidemiology study

Epidemiology of peripartum cardiomyopathy: incidence, predictors, and outcomes

Comparison of Hemoglobin A1c With Fasting Plasma Glucose and 2-h Postchallenge Glucose for Risk Stratification Among Women With Recent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Change in body mass index between pregnancies and the risk of gestational diabetes in a second pregnancy

Duration of lactation and maternal adipokines at 3 years postpartum

Longitudinal study of prepregnancy cardiometabolic risk factors and subsequent risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: The CARDIA study

Pre-pregnancy stress reactivity and pregnancy outcome

Prepregnancy lipids related to preterm birth risk: the coronary artery risk development in young adults study

Association of maternal short sleep duration with adiposity and cardiometabolic status at 3 years postpartum

Duration of lactation and maternal metabolism at 3 years postpartum

Gestational weight gain and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

Duration of lactation and incidence of the metabolic syndrome in women of reproductive age according to gestational diabetes mellitus status: a 20-Year prospective study in CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults)

Lactation and diabetes among women with a history of GDM pregnancy

Childbearing is associated with higher incidence of the metabolic syndrome among women of reproductive age controlling for measurements before pregnancy: the CARDIA study

Childbearing and obesity in women: weight before, during, and after pregnancy

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.