My research focuses on early development, from pregnancy until middle childhood, and in community and vulnerable populations. I have three main lines of research: 1) the influences of prenatal maternal stress and anxiety on child development; 2) the development of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis (i.e. the most important stress system) in children, in relation to their behavioral and emotional regulation. Environmental influences studied in this context are parental behavior, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, and non-parental care; and 3) the development of the intestinal microbiota in relation to children’s behavioral and emotion regulation, and their HPA axis development.