Rate My Professor Christine Jasoni

Professor Christine Jasoni is a developmental neuroscientist who served as Professor in the Department of Anatomy within the University of Otago's Otago School of Biomedical Sciences. She held the position of Head of Department from 2022 to 2024 and was Director of the Brain Health Research Centre from 2016. Holding a PhD in Developmental Neuroscience from the University of Washington, Jasoni's career at Otago spanned senior lecturer to professor roles, with promotion to full professor in 2019. Her research investigates how maternal health conditions during pregnancy, particularly obesity and gestational diabetes, impact fetal brain development. Focusing on the hypothalamus and related circuits, her laboratory uses mouse models to explore molecular mechanisms, including the roles of leptin, cytokines, inflammation, and epigenetic modifications like histone binding and DNA methylation. These studies reveal increased risks for offspring neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and metabolic issues like obesity.