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Emily W. Harville

Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Tulane University of Louisiana

About Emily

Harville's research focuses on reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. Overarching themes in Harville's writings include mechanisms of health disparities - what factors create disparities - and life course influences on pregnancy outcomes - how does health prior to pregnancy affect birth outcomes and how does pregnancy health affects later-life health. Harville also studies effects of disaster on maternal and child health. Harville serves as a member or consultant to maternal and child health working and advocacy groups and a volunteer statistician and data scientist for organizations seeking to use data for social purposes.

In the News

Quoted by Jay Reeves in "“I don’t feel real”: Mental Stress Mounting after Michael," Associated Press, October 21, 2018.

Publications

"Reproductive History and Cognitive Aging: The Bogalusa Heart Study" (with Jack Guralnik, Maryellen Romero, and Lydia A. Bazzano). The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (2019).

Finds women who did not have children had worse cognitive health and women who had breastfed had better cognitive health in midlife.

"Cumulative Effects of the Gulf Oil Spill and Other Disasters on Mental Health Among Reproductive-Aged Women: The GROWH Study" (with Arti Shankar, Christine Dunkel Schetter, and Maureen Lichtveld). Psychological Trauma 10, no. 5 (September 2018): 533-541.

Finds experiencing multiple disasters was associated with worse mental health, but the combined effect of multiple disasters was not worse than expected.

"Pre-Pregnancy Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Racial Disparities in Birth Outcomes: The Bogalusa Heart Study" (with Leann Myers, Tian Shu, Maeve E. Wallace, and Lydia A. Bazzano). BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 18 (August 2018).

Finds clear racial disparities in birth outcomes, but they were reduced modestly or not at all after cardiovascular risk factors were adjusted for. Does not provide evidence for preconception cardiovascular risk being a strong contributor to racial disparities.

"Self-Reported Oil Spill Exposure and Pregnancy Complications: The GROWH Study" (with Arti Shankar, Leah Zilversmit, and Pierre Buekens). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 7 (June 2017).

Does not suggest an increased risk of pregnancy complications (gestational hypertension or diabetes) associated with exposure to the oil spill. Notes future studies should assess such exposure and outcomes prospectively and clinically instead of relying on self-report.

"Multigenerational Cardiometabolic Risk as a Predictor of Birth Outcomes: The Bogalusa Heart Study" (with Marni B. Jacobs, Lu Qi, Wei Chen, and Lydia A. Bazzano). The Journal of Pediatrics 181 (February 2017): 154-162.

Finds Generation 1’s higher glucose levels were associated with higher birthweight in generation 3, while lipids were associated with lower birthweight. Suggests the possibility of multigenerational developmental programming of birth outcomes, although mechanisms (whether biological or environmental) are undetermined.