DEE HENDERSON Science & Communications Manager
Dee Henderson joined the Developing Brain Institute at Children’s National in March 2020 after working four years in Children’s public relations department as science writer/senior public relations specialist. Dee received her bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism/Spanish from the University of North Dakota and graduated with honors.
She is currently supporting the DC Mother-Baby Wellness program as well as ongoing and future research projects exploring the interplay between placental health and the developing fetal brain; the link between preterm birth and later autism spectrum disorder risks; and the unique impact of multiple stressors for pregnant women giving birth amid the COVID-19
pandemic and for their offspring, including whether earlier, targeted stress-reduction interventions demonstrate a dose effect in lessening those negative impacts.
Address: 111 Michigan Ave. NW; Washington, D.C., 20010
Email: [email protected]
Department: MRI Lab
Recent publications & presentations
2025 | April
Weiner S, Cheng JJ, Wu Y, Liggett M, McCants C, Adegbulugbe E, Mears A, Henderson D, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. "Neonatal Hippocampal Volumes Are Associated With Toddler Behavior in Children Born During the COVID-19 Pandemic." High-scoring Oral Abstract. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii. April 2025.
Henderson D, Andescavage N, Keller JM, Bassa MM, Adegbulugbe E, Brechot C, Le NH, Limperopoulos C. "Mommy&Me: Enrolling Black Moms and Babies in Clinical Research." Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii. April 2025.
2025 | February
Le HN, Andescavage N, Keller JM, Bassa MM, Danielson AL, Henderson D, Bond S, Mjenga N, Wells S, Quinn P, Limperopoulos C. “Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Mommy&Me Study: A Multi-Modal Approach to Address Social Determinants of Health and Mental Health Among Low-Income Black Perinatal Populations.” SSRN. 2025 Feb. 13. Epub.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5122551
2024 | June
Weiner S, Wu Y, Kapse K, Vozar T, Cheng JJ, Murnick J, Henderson D, Teramoto H, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. "Prenatal maternal psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and newborn brain development." JAMA Network Open. 2024 Jun 3;7(6):e2417924. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17924. PMID: 38900424
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38900424
2024 | June
Weiner S, Wu Y, Kapse K, Vozar T, Cheng JJ, Murnick J, Henderson D, Teramoto H, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. "Prenatal maternal psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and newborn brain development." JAMA Network Open. 2024 Jun 3;7(6):e2417924. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17924. PMID: 38900424
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38900424
2024 | April
Adon J, Assefa H. Carrillo M, Chafin M, Dampha M, Saleem N, Kang R, Petersen C, Brechot C, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Bassa MM, Keller J, Le HN, Limperopoulos C. "Drivers of Maternal Wellness in a Randomized Control Trial of Perinatal Mental Health in Low-Resourced Black and African American Pregnant Women." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024. (High-scoring poster)
Bond S, Henderson D, Small-Lewis M, Andescavage N, Le HN, Limperopoulos C. "Mommy&Me Virtual Mommy Meet-Ups: Building Kinship, Boosting Resilience and Restoring Balance for Black Moms." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024. (High-scoring poster)
Diribe C, Petersen C, Brechot C, Ngwa J, Andescavage N, Henderson D, Saleem N, Bassa M, Keller J, Le H, Limperopoulos C. "Elevated maternal mental distress in low-resourced Black and African American pregnant women in DC." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C.
Kocher K, Ngwa J, Andescavage N, Henderson D, Limperopoulos C. "Prenatal exposure to COVID-19 pandemic is linked with epigenetic age acceleration in newborns." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C.
Pishghadam M, Kapse K, Ngwa JS, Henderson D, Limperopoulos C, Niforatos-Andescavage N. "Non-invasive placental perfusion imaging in pregnant women exposed to COVID-19." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C.
Weiner S, Wu Y, Vozar T, Ngwa JS, Kapse K, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. "It's all in the timing: effects of maternal anxiety on neurodevelopment." Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C.
2024 | January
Andescavage N, Lu YC, Wu Y, Kapse K, Keller J, Von Kohorn I, Afifi A, Vezina G, Henderson D, Wessel DL, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C. "Intrauterine exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection and early newborn brain development." Cereb Cortex. 2024 Jan 31;34(2):bhae041. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhae041. PMID: 38385890
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38385890/
2023
Kocher K, Bhattacharya S, Niforatos-Andescavage N, Almalvez M, Henderson D, Vilain E, Limperopoulos C, Délot EC. Genome-wide neonatal epigenetic changes associated with maternal exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Med Genomics. 2023 Oct 30;16(1):268. doi: 10.1186/s12920-023-01707-4. PMID: 37899449
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37899449/