Brittany Howell, Ph.D.
“Our lab is focused on getting a comprehensive view of how mothers impact infant brain development. We want to understand how the mother’s health and behavior influence infant brain development so we can define what the brain needs to develop optimally."
Exploring healthy infant brain development
How can we improve mother-infant health outcomes?
Numerous studies have suggested that when expecting and new mothers are stressed, hormonal changes not only impact the mother’s health, but also affect the baby’s development. But unpacking these reports can be complicated. In addition to the genetic traits inherited from the baby’s parents, other factors, including epigenetic modifications occurring in utero or after birth, nutrition, feeding habits, sleep hygiene, home conditions, and mother-baby interactions, can all influence brain development during the first few months of life.
Brittany Howell, Ph.D., blends biological and behavioral analysis to capture a wide range of factors implicated in healthy human brain development. Her laboratory analyzes and compares breast milk composition, feeding habits, stress levels, fecal microbiology, social behavior, and brain imaging data. She studies gut-brain-behavior axis development, and the biological pathways of early experience and maternal influence on infant neurodevelopment.
- Assistant Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
- Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
B.R. Howell, M. Ahn, Y. Shi, J. Godfrey, X. Hu, H, Zhu, M.A. Styner, M. Sanchez. (2019) Disentangling the effects of early caregiving experience and heritable factors on brain white matter development in rhesus monkeys. NeuroImage.
B.R. Howell, M.A. Styner, W. Gao*, P.T. Yap, L. Wang, K. Baluyot, E. Yacoub*, G. Chen, T. Potts, A. Salzwedel, G. Li, J.H. Gilmore, J. Piven, J.K. Smith, D. Shen, K. Ugurbil, 6 Howell CV H. Zhu, W. Lin, J.T. Elison. (2018) The UNC/UMN Baby Connectome Project (BCP): An overview of the study design and protocol development. NeuroImage. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.049
B.R. Howell, M. McMurray, D. Guzman, G. Nair, Y. Shi, K. McMormack, X. Hu, M. Styner, M. Sanchez (2016) Maternal buffering beyond glucocorticoids: impact of early life stress on corticolimbic circuits that control infant responses to novelty. Social Neuroscience. 12(1): 50- 64. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2016.1200481
University of Minnesota
Postdoctoral Scholar
Emory University
Postdoctoral Scholar
Emory University
Graduate Assistant, New Orleans Research Collaborative
- Ph.D., Emory University, Neuroscience
- 6th Annual Nutrition & Growth Meeting Abstract Award
- Jacobs Foundation Conference Young Scholar, “Reconciling Genes and Contexts:
- NIMH Institutional Postdoctoral NRSA Award
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Next-generation neuroscience studies the infant brain in motion , article Date: Dec 08, 2025 - -
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Putting rural health front and center in research , article Date: Nov 20, 2025 - -
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Article ItemFrom child brain development research to Capitol Hill advocacy , article
Graduate student Blakely Lockhart has been named an Early Career Policy Ambassador by the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest organization of brain and nervous system researchers.
Date: Apr 03, 2025 - -
Article ItemMaternal mental health problems are 'No. 1 complication in pregnancy' , article
Child and maternal health experts shared the challenge of providing wraparound care and extended research during a panel discussion on women’s health.
Date: Apr 01, 2024 - -
Article ItemMedical student’s pilot study investigates relationship between obesity during pregnancy and potentially harmful bacteria that may predict negative birth outcomes , article
While investigating the relationship between obesity and negative birth outcomes, Kelly Ingram discovered that two types of vaginal bacteria were part of the equation.
Date: Mar 12, 2024 - -
Article ItemLeading scientist shares mysteries of the human milk microbiome in public lecture , article
Prominent maternal-infant health expert and National Academy of Medicine member Michelle "Shelley" McGuire will deliver the next Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture Feb. 15 at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
Date: Feb 07, 2024 - -
Article ItemPregnant? Virginia Tech researchers recruiting for nation’s largest early childhood brain development study , article
The ambitious national HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study seeks to better understand what influences brain development from birth through age 10.
Date: Aug 23, 2023 - -
Article ItemState iTHRIV partnership awards $200,000 in pilot funds , article
The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia, has awarded teams of physicians, researchers, veterinarians, and data scientists at Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, and the University of Virginia $200,000 in pilot funding. The funds will be used across four multi-institutional research projects to accelerate health breakthroughs in the fields of pediatrics, prenatal care, and cancer treatment.
Date: Dec 05, 2022 - -
Article ItemResearchers to involve expectant moms in study of how opioids, other disruptors influence a child’s development , article
Brittany Howell, an assistant professor at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is leading part of a nationwide National Institutes of Health study to address the opioid crisis, which has disproportionately affected rural communities in the commonwealth.
Date: Sep 01, 2022 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute expands Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program , article
More than 30 undergraduate and high school students worked behind the curtain of biomedical research this summer at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
Date: Aug 16, 2022 - -
Article ItemVirginia Tech scientists find link between microorganisms and early brain development , article
The study, published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, indicates that bacteria, viruses, and fungi are critical to early brain development, and their absence has been speculated to be possibly related to disorders including autism, schizophrenia, depression, and ADHD.
Date: Feb 23, 2022 - -
Article ItemNeuroscience major, autism advocate Saket Bikmal wins 2021 Goldwater Scholarship , article
Fourth-year student Saket Bikmal - majoring in computational and systems neuroscience in the School of Neuroscience – was awarded a 2021 Goldwater Scholarship.
Date: Sep 22, 2021 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists to present virtual Brain School lectures for March’s Brain Awareness Week , article
Four brain scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC will share extraordinary insights and emerging concepts about the brain in one-hour interactive programs.
Date: Mar 09, 2021 - -
Article ItemiTHRIV announces incoming 2020 scholars program cohort , article
iTHRIV, the Clinical and Translational Science Award partnership between Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Carilion Clinic, and Inova Health System has announced its fourth class of scholars.
Date: Jun 17, 2020 - -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute to explore how a baby’s brain develops at Brain School , article
This year’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Brain School speaker lineup features interactive presentations about what influences early brain development and how these factors relate to infant health.
Date: Feb 27, 2020 - -
Article ItemNew Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty member links nature, nurture, and early brain development , article
Brittany Howell, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, studies how maternal characteristics and behavior impact brain development in infants. Howell will start recruiting new mothers to participate in her lab’s research studies in 2020.
Date: Dec 12, 2019 -
Recent Media Coverage
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Redirect ItemWDBJ TV: Virginia scientists explore infant brain development , redirect Date: Dec 27, 2022 -
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Redirect ItemMirage News: ITHRIV Announces Incoming 2020 Scholars Program Cohort , redirect Date: Jun 18, 2020 -
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