Dr. Marquis S. Hawkins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Biological & Health Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

He is a behavioral epidemiologist whose work focuses on improving maternal health during and after pregnancy. His research examines how sleep and sleep-related behaviors (e.g., diet and physical activity) interact to influence cardiovascular, metabolic, and mental health outcomes across the perinatal period.

Using rigorous epidemiologic methods, he generates evidence to inform the design of circadian-based and lifestyle interventions, which he then develops and tests using clinical, behavioral, and human-centered approaches.

His work is driven by a commitment to advancing evidence-based solutions to optimize health trajectories of mothers and their families across generations.

Christina Personette is currently a first-year clinical psychology PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, studying under the mentorship of Dr. Marquis Hawkins.

Her research focuses on how health behaviors influence perinatal psychopathology and mental well-being, with the aim of developing accessible prevention and treatment options for pregnant populations. Christina’s primary interests include identifying risk factors that contribute to perinatal psychopathology, exploring the role of multidimensional sleep health and dietary behaviors in perinatal mental health, and integrating behavior modification into clinical practice.

Although she often uses structural equation modeling and mediation/moderation techniques, Christina is training in advanced epidemiologic methods with the guidance of Dr. Hawkins.

Projects

• GDM2-FPDP: Analyzes the relationship between food intake patterns and prenatal depression.
• OPTIMIZE: A mixed-methods study investigating the role of sleep in perinatal cardiometabolic and mental health.

Christina is hoping to one day integrate her training into clinical practice, where she can support and advance treatment options for vulnerable populations.

Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh

Short Bio

I am a second-year PhD student in Epidemiology with primary interests in lifestyle factors, including diet, physical activity, sleep, and circadian rhythms. My work focuses on identifying modifiable lifestyle behaviors using accelerometer-derived measures and translating these insights into intervention-relevant targets that can improve health across the life course.

Primary Interests

• Accelerometer-based lifestyle behaviors – quantifying sleep, physical activity, and circadian rhythm patterns in daily life
• 24-hour movement behaviors – understanding how sleep, activity, and sedentary time jointly relate to health outcomes
• Multidimensional sleep health

Skills & Approaches

• Epidemiologic data analysis for longitudinal and intervention studies
• Accelerometry data processing and multidimensional behavior metrics (e.g., GGIR)
• Randomized controlled trial coordination, data cleaning, and quality control

Current Projects

• PMOMS – Examining trajectories of multidimensional sleep health from pregnancy to postpartum and their associations with postpartum weight retention
• HABIT – Investigating how 24-hour movement behaviors relate to pregnancy and postpartum weight outcomes

Outside the Lab

I watch NBA games every night and rarely miss a matchup.

Bachelor’s in Psychology and Statistics
Psychology Department, University of Pittsburgh

David Phan is responsible for creating, executing, and interpreting data analysis workflows for the lab. He is primarily interested in lifestyle approaches (sleep, exercise, and diet) toward mental and physical wellness.

Primary Interests

• Lifestyle interventions for mental and physical well-being
• Non-medication treatments for ADHD

Skills & Approaches

• Regression analysis
• Latent class analysis
• Compositional data analysis

Current Projects

• The Associations of Multidimensional Sleep Health and Arterial Stiffness: studying the relation between sleep and heart disease in the Tobago population

Outside the Lab

Outside of the lab, David can be found playing video games, cooking, and learning how to sing.

Department of Epidemiology / Master of Science in Epidemiology

Short Bio

I am a MS student, especially interested in sleep health during pregnancy and causal inference. Having worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist, I want to contribute to research projects by bringing in physician’s perspective.

Primary Interests

• Sleep health – How composition of sleep and physical activity contributes to adverse pregnancy outcomes
• Immigrant issues – How health outcomes change between the 1st and 2nd generation
• Causal inference – How causal inference can address perinatal data

Skills & Approaches

• Obstetrician-gynecologist
• Causal inference
• R, SAS, SQL programming

Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh

Short Bio

Lujie Chen is a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on multidimensional sleep health during pregnancy and the postpartum period, with an emphasis on how sleep patterns and related behaviors influence maternal and child health outcomes. By bridging research with advanced analytical methods, she strives to develop evidence-based insights that can inform more effective interventions to improve sleep and overall well-being for families.

Primary Interests

• Multidimensional Sleep Health – Investigating the various dimensions of sleep
• Maternal and Child Health – Promote better outcomes for mothers and their children

Skills & Approaches

• Epidemiologic study design and data analysis
• Statistical analysis using R and SAS
• Causal inference methods

Populations / Data / Focus Areas

• Pregnant and postpartum women
• Postpartum Mothers Mobile Study (PMOMS)
• Sleep health

Current Projects

• Leveraging neighborhood environments to improve sleep health and their causal effects on breastfeeding and postpartum mood

Outside the Lab

Outside the lab, Lujie enjoys playing badminton and has competed in multiple tournaments since college.