About

Kristina Uban, PhD, is an associate professor of Health, Society, & Behavior at UC Irvine's Program in Public Health. She is a developmental neuroscientist and neurobiology expert who leads the Developing Brain Lab at the university. Her research encompasses a wide range of topics in neuroscience and brain health, including neuroendocrine function and cognitive/mental health outcomes among diverse populations. She is proficient in various research methodologies involving neuroimaging and salivary biosciences to non-invasively examine brain-hormone relationships across all age groups. Dr. Uban holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience from the University of British Columbia and has served as a post-doctoral researcher at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She is also a fellow at the UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and a researcher at the UCI Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Political Science
• Neuroscience
• Computer Science
• Psychiatry
• Internal medicine
• Environmental health
• Pediatrics
• Cartography
• Biology
• Data science
• Radiology
• Pathology
• Social psychology
• Family medicine
• Geography
• Cognitive psychology
• Audiology

Selected publications

• Associations between perinatal risk and physical health in pre-adolescence in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®: the unexpected relationship with sleep disruption

  Pediatric Research · 2024-06-08 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: To investigate relationships among different physical health problems in a large, sociodemographically diverse sample of 9-to-10-year-old children and determine the extent to which perinatal health factors are associated with childhood physical health problems. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development℠ (ABCD) Study (n = 7613, ages 9-to-10-years-old) to determine the associations among multiple physical health factors (e.g., prenatal complications, current physical health problems). Logistic regression models controlling for age, sex, pubertal development, household income, caregiver education, race, and ethnicity evaluated relationships between perinatal factors and childhood physical health problems. RESULTS: There were significant associations between perinatal and current physical health measures. Specifically, those who had experienced perinatal complications were more likely to have medical problems by 9-to-10 years old. Importantly, sleep disturbance co-occurred with several physical health problems across domains and developmental periods. CONCLUSION: Several perinatal health factors were associated with childhood health outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding and potentially improving physical health in youth. Understanding the clustering of physical health problems in youth is essential to better identify which physical health problems may share underlying mechanisms. IMPACT: Using a multivariable approach, we investigated the associations between various perinatal and current health problems amongst youth. Our study highlights current health problems, such as sleep problems at 9-to-10 years old, that are associated with a cluster of factors occurring across development (e.g., low birth weight, prenatal substance exposure, pregnancy complications, current weight status, lifetime head injury). Perinatal health problems are at large, non-modifiable (in this retrospective context), however, by identifying which are associated with current health problems, we can identify potential targets for intervention and prevention efforts.

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• Associations between community-level patterns of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure on brain structure in a non-clinical sample of 6-year-old children: a South African pilot study

  Acta Neuropsychiatrica · 2023-01-26 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract The current small study utilised prospective data collection of patterns of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure (PAE and PTE) to examine associations with structural brain outcomes in 6-year-olds and served as a pilot to determine the value of prospective data describing community-level patterns of PAE and PTE in a non-clinical sample of children. Participants from the Safe Passage Study in pregnancy were approached when their child was ∼6 years old and completed structural brain magnetic resonance imaging to examine with archived PAE and PTE data ( n = 51 children–mother dyads). Linear regression was used to conduct whole-brain structural analyses, with false-discovery rate (FDR) correction, to examine: (a) main effects of PAE, PTE and their interaction; and (b) predictive potential of data that reflect patterns of PAE and PTE (e.g. quantity, frequency and timing (QFT)). Associations between PAE, PTE and their interaction with brain structural measures demonstrated unique profiles of cortical and subcortical alterations that were distinct between PAE only, PTE only and their interactive effects. Analyses examining associations between patterns of PAE and PTE (e.g. QFT) were able to significantly detect brain alterations (that survived FDR correction) in this small non-clinical sample of children. These findings support the hypothesis that considering QFT and co-exposures is important for identifying brain alterations following PAE and/or PTE in a small group of young children. Current results demonstrate that teratogenic outcomes on brain structure differ as a function PAE, PTE or their co-exposures, as well as the pattern (QFT) or exposure.

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• Behavioral and psychosocial factors related to mental distress among medical students

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2023-07-27 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  Introduction: Physicians die by suicide at rates higher than the general population, with the increased risk beginning in medical school. To better understand why, this study examined the prevalence of mental distress (e.g., depressive symptoms and suicide risk) and behavioral and psychosocial risk factors for distress, as well as the associations between mental distress and risk factors among a sample of medical students in a pre-COVID-19-era. Methods: = 134; 52% female) completed questionnaires assessing sociodemographic characteristics, depression and suicide family history, health behaviors, and psychosocial wellbeing. Assessment scores indexing mental distress (e.g., depressive symptoms, thoughts of suicide in the past 12 months, suicide risk, and history of suicidality) and risk factors (e.g., stress, subjective sleep quality, alcohol use, impostor feelings, and bill payment difficulty) were compared across biological sex using chi-squared tests, and associations between mental distress and risk factors were determined through logistic regression. Results: Elevated mental distress indicators were observed relative to the general public (e.g., 16% positive depression screen, 17% thought about suicide in previous 12 months, 10% positive suicide risk screen, and 34% history of suicidality), as well as elevated risk factors [e.g., 55% moderate or high stress, 95% at least moderate impostor feelings, 59% poor sleep quality, 50% screened positive for hazardous drinking (more likely in females), and 25% difficulty paying bills]. A positive depression screen was associated with higher stress, higher impostor feelings, poorer sleep quality, and difficulty paying bills. Suicidal ideation in the previous 12 months, suicide risk, and a history of suicidality were independently associated with higher levels of impostor feelings. Discussion: Higher scores on assessments of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors were related to several individual-level and potentially modifiable risk factors (e.g., stress, impostor feelings, sleep quality, and bill payment difficulties). Future research is needed to inform customized screening and resources for the wellbeing of the medical community. However, it is likely that the modification of individual-level risk factors is limited by the larger medical culture and systems, suggesting that successful interventions mitigate suicide risk for medical providers need to address multiple socio-ecological levels.

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• Contextualizing the impact of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure on neurodevelopment in a South African birth cohort: an analysis from the socioecological perspective

  Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · 2023-07-18 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Background Alcohol and tobacco are known teratogens. Historically, more severe prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) have been examined as the principal predictor of neurodevelopmental alterations, with little incorporation of lower doses or ecological contextual factors that can also impact neurodevelopment, such as socioeconomic resources (SER) or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Here, a novel analytical approach informed by a socio-ecological perspective was used to examine the associations between SER, PAE and/or PTE, and ACEs, and their effects on neurodevelopment. Methods N = 313 mother-child dyads were recruited from a prospective birth cohort with maternal report of PAE and PTE, and cross-sectional structural brain neuroimaging of child acquired via 3T scanner at ages 8–11 years. In utero SER was measured by maternal education, household income, and home utility availability. The child’s ACEs were measured by self-report assisted by the researcher. PAE was grouped into early exposure (<12 weeks), continued exposure (>=12 weeks), and no exposure controls. PTE was grouped into exposed and non-exposed controls. Results Greater access to SER during pregnancy was associated with fewer ACEs (maternal education: β = −0.293, p = 0.01; phone access: β = −0.968, p = 0.05). PTE partially mediated the association between SER and ACEs, where greater SER reduced the likelihood of PTE, which was positively associated with ACEs (β = 1.110, p = 0.01). SER was associated with alterations in superior frontal (β = −1336.036, q = 0.046), lateral orbitofrontal (β = −513.865, q = 0.046), caudal anterior cingulate volumes (β = −222.982, q = 0.046), with access to phone negatively associated with all three brain volumes. Access to water was positively associated with superior frontal volume (β=1569.527, q = 0.013). PTE was associated with smaller volumes of lateral orbitofrontal (β = −331.000, q = 0.033) and nucleus accumbens regions (β = −34.800, q = 0.033). Conclusion Research on neurodevelopment following community-levels of PAE and PTE should more regularly consider the ecological context to accelerate understanding of teratogenic outcomes. Further research is needed to replicate this novel conceptual approach with varying PAE and PTE patterns, to disentangle the interplay between dose, community-level and individual-level risk factors on neurodevelopment.

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• The implications of socioeconomic factors on salivary bioscience methodological variables in a large pediatric multi-site study

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2023-06-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Introduction: Salivary bioscience has found increased utilization within pediatric research, given the non-invasive nature of self-collecting saliva for measuring biological markers. With this growth in pediatric utility, more understanding is needed of how social-contextual factors, such as socioeconomic factors or status (SES), influence salivary bioscience in large multi-site studies. Socioeconomic factors have been shown to influence non-salivary analyte levels across childhood and adolescent development. However, less is understood about relationships between these socioeconomic factors and salivary collection methodological variables (e.g., time of saliva collection from waking, time of day of saliva collection, physical activity prior to saliva collection, and caffeine intake prior to saliva collection). Variability in salivary methodological variables between participants may impact the levels of analytes measured in a salivary sample, thus serving as a potential mechanism for non-random systematic biases in analytes. Methods: = 10,567 participants with saliva samples). Results: We observed significant associations between household socioeconomic factors (poverty status, education) and salivary collection methodological variables (time since waking, time of day of sampling, physical activity, and caffeine intake). Moreover, lower levels of household poverty and education were significantly associated with more sources of potential bias in salivary collection methodological variables (e.g., longer times since waking, collections later in the day, higher odds of caffeine consumption, and lower odds of physical activity). Consistent associations were not observed with neighborhood socioeconomic factors and salivary methodological variables. Discussion: Previous literature demonstrates associations between collection methodological variables and measurements of salivary analyte levels, particularly with analytes that are more sensitive to circadian rhythms, pH levels, or rigorous physical activity. Our novel findings suggest that unintended distortions in measured salivary analyte values, potentially resulting from the non-random systematic biases in salivary methodology, need to be intentionally incorporated into analyses and interpretation of results. This is particularly salient for future studies interested in examining underlying mechanisms of childhood socioeconomic health inequities in future analyses.

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• A call to leverage a health equity lens to accelerate human neuroscience research

  Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · 2023-04-17 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Investigation of health inequities tend to be examined, in human neurosciences, as biological factors at the level of the individual. In actuality, health inequities arise, due largely in part, to deep-seated structural factors. Structural inequality refers to the systemic disadvantage of one social group compared to others with whom they coexist. The term encompasses policy, law, governance, and culture and relates to race, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, class, sexual orientation, and other domains. These structural inequalities include but are not limited to social segregation, the intergenerational effects of colonialism and the consequent distribution of power and privilege. Principles to address inequities influenced by structural factors are increasingly prevalent in a subfield of the neurosciences, i.e., cultural neurosciences. Cultural neuroscience articulates the bidirectional relationship between biology and environmental contextual factors surrounding research participants. However, the operationalization of these principles may not have the intended spillover effect on the majority of human neurosciences: this limitation is the overarching focus of the present piece. Here, we provide our perspective that these principles are missing and very much needed in all human neuroscience subdisciplines to accelerate our understanding of the human brain. Furthermore, we provide an outline of two key tenets of a health equity lens necessary for achieving research equity in human neurosciences: the social determinants of health (SDoH) framework and how to deal with confounders using counterfactual thinking. We argue that these tenets should be prioritized across future human neuroscience research more generally, and doing so is a pathway to further gain an understanding of contextual background intertwined with the human brain, thus improving the rigor and inclusivity of human neuroscience research.

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• The impact of prenatal alcohol and/or tobacco exposure on brain structure in a large sample of children from a South African birth cohort

  Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research · 2022 · 16 citations

  • Environmental health
  • Medicine
  • Psychiatry

  BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging studies have emphasized the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on brain development, traditionally in heavily exposed participants. However, less is known about how naturally occurring community patterns of PAE (including light to moderate exposure) affect brain development, particularly in consideration of commonly occurring concurrent impacts of prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE). METHODS: Three hundred thirty-two children (ages 8 to 12) living in South Africa's Cape Flats townships underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. During pregnancy, their mothers reported alcohol and tobacco use, which was used to evaluate PAE and PTE effects on their children's brain structure. Analyses involved the main effects of PAE and PTE (and their interaction) and the effects of PAE and PTE quantity on cortical thickness, surface area, and volume. RESULTS: After false-discovery rate (FDR) correction, PAE was associated with thinner left parahippocampal cortices, while PTE was associated with smaller cortical surface area in the bilateral pericalcarine, left lateral orbitofrontal, right posterior cingulate, right rostral anterior cingulate, left caudal middle frontal, and right caudal anterior cingulate gyri. There were no PAE × PTE interactions nor any associations of PAE and PTE exposure on volumetrics that survived FDR correction. CONCLUSION: PAE was associated with reduction in the structure of the medial temporal lobe, a brain region critical for learning and memory. PTE had stronger and broader associations, including with regions associated with executive function, reward processing, and emotional regulation, potentially reflecting continued postnatal exposure to tobacco (i.e., second-hand smoke exposure). These differential effects are discussed with respect to reduced PAE quantity in our exposed group versus prior studies within this geographical location, the deep poverty in which participants live, and the consequences of apartheid and racially and economically driven payment practices that contributed to heavy drinking in the region. Longer-term follow-up is needed to determine potential environmental and other moderators of the brain findings here and assess the extent to which they endure over time.

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• Associations between prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure and cortical and subcortical brain measures in South African children: a pilot study

  medRxiv · 2022-06-08 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen access1st author

  Abstract Objective The aim of this pilot study was to assess associations of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE), and their interaction and quantity on subsequent cortical and subcortical measures at age 6 years. Methods Mothers with varying levels of alcohol and tobacco exposure at different trimesters during pregnancy were approached when their children (born participating in the Safe Passage Study) were approximately 6 years old. 72 mothers agreed to participate, and 51 children completed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Brain regions of interest (ROIs) that were significantly associated prior to multiple comparison testing, were examined for associations related to exposure quantity, frequency, and timing (QFT), to explore how patterns of PAE and PTE influence brain outcomes in children. Linear regression was used to identify associations between PAE, PTE, and their interaction with cortical (n = 68 ROIs) and subcortical (n = 40 ROIs) measures. Results Prior to correction for multiple comparison testing, both PAE and PTE, as well as their interaction, were associated with a range of cortical and subcortical measures. However, none of these findings survived correction for multiple comparisons. Nevertheless, when exploring quantity of PAE, the total amount of standard drinks consumed during pregnancy and the average number of drinks per drinking day were positively associated with cortical volume in the right fusiform gyrus. Conclusion These trend results in this pilot study provide preliminary evidence that PAE impacts brain development in unique ways from PTE, and their interactive co-exposure is not a straight forward synergistic or additive effect on the brain.

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• Baseline brain function in the preadolescents of the ABCD Study

  Nature Neuroscience · 2021 · 120 citations

  • Psychology
  • Developmental psychology
  • Audiology
  DOI

• Rates of Incidental Findings in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children

  JAMA Neurology · 2021 · 64 citations

  • Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Family medicine

  Importance: Incidental findings (IFs) are unexpected abnormalities discovered during imaging and can range from normal anatomic variants to findings requiring urgent medical intervention. In the case of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), reliable data about the prevalence and significance of IFs in the general population are limited, making it difficult to anticipate, communicate, and manage these findings. Objectives: To determine the overall prevalence of IFs in brain MRI in the nonclinical pediatric population as well as the rates of specific findings and findings for which clinical referral is recommended. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study was based on the April 2019 release of baseline data from 11 810 children aged 9 to 10 years who were enrolled and completed baseline neuroimaging in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest US population-based longitudinal observational study of brain development and child health, between September 1, 2016, and November 15, 2018. Participants were enrolled at 21 sites across the US designed to mirror the demographic characteristics of the US population. Baseline structural MRIs were centrally reviewed for IFs by board-certified neuroradiologists and findings were described and categorized (category 1, no abnormal findings; 2, no referral recommended; 3; consider referral; and 4, consider immediate referral). Children were enrolled through a broad school-based recruitment process in which all children of eligible age at selected schools were invited to participate. Exclusion criteria were severe sensory, intellectual, medical, or neurologic disorders that would preclude or interfere with study participation. During the enrollment process, demographic data were monitored to ensure that the study met targets for sex, socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial diversity. Data were analyzed from March 15, 2018, to November 20, 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: Percentage of children with IFs in each category and prevalence of specific IFs. Results: A total of 11 679 children (52.1% boys, mean [SD] age, 9.9 [0.62] years) had interpretable baseline structural MRI results. Of these, 2464 participants (21.1%) had IFs, including 2013 children (17.2%) assigned to category 2, 431 (3.7%) assigned to category 3, and 20 (0.2%) assigned to category 4. Overall rates of IFs did not differ significantly between singleton and twin gestations or between monozygotic and dizygotic twins, but heritability analysis showed heritability for the presence or absence of IFs (h2 = 0.260; 95% CI, 0.135-0.387). Conclusions and Relevance: Incidental findings in brain MRI and findings with potential clinical significance are both common in the general pediatric population. By assessing IFs and concurrent developmental and health measures and following these findings over the longitudinal study course, the ABCD study has the potential to determine the significance of many common IFs.

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Recent grants

• Assessing Stable Characteristics of Endocrine Function Among Boys and Girls with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure as a Novel Clinical Tool

  NIH · $357k · 2018–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Elizabeth R. Sowell

  22 shared

• Andrew T. Marshall

  Children's Hospital of Los Angeles

  14 shared

• Shana Adise

  Children's Hospital of Los Angeles

  12 shared

• Megan M. Herting

  10 shared

• Hawa Mariko

  Bioscience Research

  9 shared

• Eric Kan

  Children's Hospital of Los Angeles

  8 shared

• Fiona C. Baker

  SRI International

  8 shared

• Dan J. Stein

  South African Medical Research Council

  8 shared

Labs

• Developing Brain LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Public Health

  University of California, Los Angeles

  2006

• M.S., Environmental Health Sciences

  University of California, Los Angeles

  2002

• B.S., Environmental Health Sciences

  University of California, Los Angeles

  2000

Awards & honors

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research…