-
Heidi Vanden Brink - Assistant Professor
- Office:
- 214B Cater-Mattil
- Email:
- heidi.vandenbrink@ag.tamu.edu
- Phone:
- 979-458-1849
- Resume/CV
- Undergraduate Education
- 2009 B.Sc., Physiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Graduate Education
- 2019-2022 Visiting Researcher, Department of Endocrinology, Children’s Mercy Hospitals, Kansas City, MO
- 2019-2022 Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- 2019 Ph.D., Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- 2012 M.Sc., Health Sciences (Reproductive Physiology), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Professional Certifications
2012-present American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) Board Certification in Obstetrical and Gynecological Ultrasound.
About the Investigator
Dr. Vanden Brink holds over a decade of clinical research experience in nutrition, metabolic health, and female human reproductive physiology and endocrinology. Her research expertise spans the women’s reproductive lifespan from menarche to menopause. Outside of the office, Dr. Vanden Brink enjoys spending time with her goldendoodle and husband, and cycling.
Research Interests and Focus
I am building an interdisciplinary, translational research program that intersects nutrition, metabolism, and reproductive physiology and is guided by the overarching aim: to detect, understand, and prevent the integrative mechanisms responsible for aberrant reproductive development during the adolescent reproductive transition. The transition through puberty and the early post-menarcheal years, (termed the adolescent reproductive transition) represents a critical window of development which, when perturbed, can result in lifelong reproductive and metabolic dysfunction and reduced quality of life. My research program focuses on the critical window of development during the peri-menarcheal years. We are particularly interested in understanding how dietary intake as well as metabolic conditions associated with obesity influence reproductive development in adolescence leading to conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
Lab Openings
Potential doctoral students with an interest in human nutrition and clinical research methods are encouraged to contact Dr. Vanden Brink directly for more information.