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Dr Kerry-Ann Grant is a senior educator at Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) Higher Education, Mental Health Portfolio. Kerry-Ann leads the postgraduate programs of study in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health. Kerry-Ann’s strong commitment to excellence in teaching and research is driven by her goal to better understand the biopsychosocial and cultural factors that impact infant and child development and parenting processes. Kerry-Ann completed her PhD at Macquarie University and then travelled to the United States where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California. She has published several studies examining the impact of early life stress on maternal wellbeing and infant social, emotional and cognitive development. Kerry-Ann is currently leading a multidisciplinary, multisite longitudinal study investigating stress and coping around routine prenatal testing.
Kerry-Ann’s commitment and contribution to the field of perinatal and infant mental health is further demonstrated through her involvement with the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) where she has held the role of NSW branch President for two successive terms. She also represents NSW on the AAIMH National working committee for the development of competency guidelines for the infant mental health workforce.
HeartKids Australia Project Grant (Assessed by the National Health & Medical Research Council). $300,000 - 2011 – 2013. Parental response to fetal or postnatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease and subsequent infant developmental outcomes: A unique test of the fetal programming hypothesis. National Health & Medical Research Council Project Grant. $556,650 - 2010 – 2012. Maternal anxiety in pregnancy: Testing the fetal programming hypothesis.
Macquarie University Research Infrastructure Block Grant. $49,150 - 2012 Department funding for various projects and grants. $33,000 - 2004-2011
A prospective investigation of the psychological impact of prenatal testing Collaborative prospective study with Northern Beaches Child and Family Health and Sydney UltrasoundFirst sounds, first steps Collaborative prospective study with Macquarie University Centre for cognitive sciences and the MARCS Institute for Brain, behaviour and Development
A randomised controlled pilot study of a brief mindfulness-based intervention for use during pregnancyVicarious acquisition and inhibition of fearful behaviours in infantsPreschooler Sleep Problems: Associations with Maternal Sleep-Related Cognitions, Bedtime Interactions and Maternal and Child AnxietyPregnancy-specific anxiety and a woman’s emotional bond to her unborn baby.Associations between exposure to prenatal synthetic glucocorticoids and early adversity and cognitive functioning in childrenPrenatal anxiety disorder, maternal sensitivity and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infantsParental care and control during childhood: Associations with maternal perinatal mood disturbance and parenting stressThe CHERISH Study: Examining parental responses to foetal or postnatal diagnosis of complex congenital heart disease and subsequent infant developmental outcomesSocial comparison: Its role in the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect And more …
Brookman, R., Kalashnikova, M., Conti, J., Xu, N., Grant, K-A., Demuth, K., & Burnham, D. (Accepted November 2019). Child Development. Mother-infant interactions and expressive language development: The effects of maternal depression and anxiety
Newall, C., Watson, T., Grant, K-A., & Richardson, R. (2017). Diminishing fear in childhood: The relative effectiveness of extinction and counter-conditioning of vicariously acquired fear. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 95, 42-49.
Korja, R., Nolvi, S., Grant, K-A., & McMahon, C. (2017). The relations between maternal prenatal anxiety or stress and child’s early negative reactivity or self-regulation: A systematic review. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 48(6), 851-869.
McDonald, H.M., Sherman, K., Petocz, P., Kangas, M., Grant, K-A., & Kasparian, N. (2016). Mindfulness and the experience of psychological distress: The mediating effects of emotion regulation and attachment anxiety. Mindfulness, 7(4), 799-808.
Grant, K-A., Sandman, C., Wing, D., Dmitrieva, J., & Davis, E. (2015). Prenatal Programming of Postnatal Susceptibility to Memory Impairments: A Developmental Double Jeopardy. Psychological Science, 26(7), 1054-1062.
Roncolato, W., McMahon, C. & Grant, K-A. (2014) Facilitators and Regulators: Antenatal maternal orientation and postnatal maternal parenting practices. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 32(3), 214-229.
Research supervision, Macquarie University
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