“Emma is an exceptional researcher and student. She has taken the lab in a new research direction, studying maternal health, and it has been a pleasure to see her take ownership of this new area.” – Marie Gaine

Hometown: Manson, Iowa, United States

Faculty mentor/advisor: Marie Gaine, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics, College of Pharmacy

Degree program and anticipated graduation date: PhD in molecular medicine, Fall 2026

Emma Simpson-Wade explores the biological basis of mental health disorders in new mothers. Suicide is a leading cause of death for perinatal individuals, yet they remain underrepresented in research. Simpson-Wade’s work aims to identify biomarkers and guide interventions that reduce these risks.

“Throughout my graduate career at the University of Iowa I have grown tremendously as an independent researcher,” says Simpson-Wade. “I have had the unique ability to carry out novel avenues of research, seek out and successfully obtain international collaborations, spearhead grant proposals, and learn cutting-edge techniques in the field of epigenetics.”

Her research spans collaborations with Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Calgary in Canada. Recognized with an National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grant and selected to present at the Marcé of North America Conference, Simpson-Wade plans to pursue postdoctoral research in women’s health and psychiatric epigenetics, driving translational discoveries that improve care for mothers worldwide.