Faculty profile

Gerald Giesbrecht

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ProfessorDepartment of PediatricsUniversity of Calgary

Gerald Giesbrecht

Professor

Department of Pediatrics

Cumming School of Medicine

University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Supervision signals

Professors usually supervise graduate students in their department's programs.
6 publications in the last five years, latest in 2024.
Principal investigator on 12 research grants (11 CIHR, 1 SSHRC), most recently in 2025.
Supervisor on 4 trainee awards (4 CIHR), most recently in 2022.

These signals come from public records, including CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions. Ask the professor or the graduate program whether they are taking new students.

Academic metrics

Publications

Collaborators

Grants

Publications by year

Counts cover the publications linked to this profile. Citations and the h-index appear when the source records them.

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Signals and details

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Calgary profile.

Neurodevelopment Infants Pregnancy Sars-Cov-2 Prenatal Stress Mental Health Socioemotional Development Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease

Latest papers

Prenatal maternal mental health and resilience in the United Kingdom during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a cross- national comparison.
Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024
Perinatal Predictors and Mediators of Attachment Patterns in Preschool Children: Exploration of Children's Contributions in Interactions with Mothers.
Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
Mixed-methods study exploring health service access and social support linkage to the mental well-being of Canadian Indigenous pregnant persons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BMJ open · 2024

All 21 publications

Latest funding

Moment-to-Moment Emotion Coregulation in Mother-Child Interaction and Child Socioemotional Development
SSHRC · 2026 · Co-investigator
$59,200
Digital Childhood: Understanding the Effects of Screen Time on Development and Well-being in School-Aged Youth
SSHRC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$81,674
From Stress to Strength: DNA Methylation Entropy as a Mechanism for Developmental Plasticity
CIHR · 2025 · Principal investigator
$1,132,200

All 37 grants and awards

21 publications.

Prenatal maternal mental health and resilience in the United Kingdom during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a cross- national comparison.

Datye S, Smiljanic M, Shetti R, MacRae-Miller A, van Teijlingen E, Vinayakarao L, Peters EMJ, Lebel C, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Giesbrecht G, Khashu M, Conrad ML

Frontiers in psychiatry2024

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1411761 PMID: 39391080

Perinatal Predictors and Mediators of Attachment Patterns in Preschool Children: Exploration of Children's Contributions in Interactions with Mothers.

Kurbatfinski S, Woo J, Ntanda H, Giesbrecht G, Letourneau N

Children (Basel, Switzerland)2024

DOI: 10.3390/children11081022 PMID: 39201958

Mixed-methods study exploring health service access and social support linkage to the mental well-being of Canadian Indigenous pregnant persons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mollons M, Levasseur-Puhach S, Kaur J, Doyle J, Giesbrecht G, Lebel CA, Woods L, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Roos L

BMJ open2024

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-078388 PMID: 38553054

Prenatal depressive symptoms are associated with altered structural brain networks in infants and moderated by infant sleep.

Donnici C, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Long X, Manning KY, Giesbrecht G, Lebel C

Journal of affective disorders2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.054 PMID: 37390922

Prenatal mental health data and birth outcomes in the pregnancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic dataset.

Lebel C, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Giesbrecht G, Lai BPY, Bagshawe M, Freeman M, Hapin MK, MacKinnon A, Patel P, van Sloten M, van de Wouw M

Data in brief2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109366 PMID: 37456119

The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) longitudinal study: cohort profile and key findings from the first three years.

Letourneau N, Aghajafari F, Bell RC, Deane AJ, Dewey D, Field C, Giesbrecht G, Kaplan B, Leung B, Ntanda H, APrON Study Team

BMJ open2022

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047503 PMID: 35131812

Data harmonization and data pooling from cohort studies: a practical approach for data management.

Adhikari K, Patten SB, Patel AB, Premji S, Tough S, Letourneau N, Giesbrecht G, Metcalfe A

International journal of population data science2021

DOI: 10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1680 PMID: 34888420

Alcohol and substance use in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kar P, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Giesbrecht G, Bagshawe M, Lebel C

Drug and alcohol dependence2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108760 PMID: 34102507

Prenatal maternal distress and immune cell epigenetic profiles at 3-months of age.

Letourneau N, Ntanda H, Jong VL, Mahinpey N, Giesbrecht G, Ross KM, APrON Team

Developmental psychobiology2021

DOI: 10.1002/dev.22103 PMID: 33569773

Assessment of anxiety during pregnancy: are existing multiple anxiety scales suitable and comparable in measuring anxiety during pregnancy?

Adhikari K, Patten SB, Williamson T, Patel AB, Premji S, Tough S, Letourneau N, Giesbrecht G, Metcalfe A

Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology2021

DOI: 10.1080/0167482x.2020.1725462 PMID: 32056477

Moment-to-Moment Emotion Coregulation in Mother-Child Interaction and Child Socioemotional Development

Co-investigatorSSHRC2026Insight Development Grants

Principal investigators: Lan, Qili

$59,200

Digital Childhood: Understanding the Effects of Screen Time on Development and Well-being in School-Aged Youth

Co-investigatorSSHRC2025Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Tomfohr-Madsen, Lianne M.

Keywords: screen time; sleep; mental health; socioeconomic status

$81,674

From Stress to Strength: DNA Methylation Entropy as a Mechanism for Developmental Plasticity

Principal investigatorCIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Cao, Lei; Giesbrecht, Gerald F

Keywords: Developmental Plasticity; Dna Methylation Entropy; Neurodevelopment; Stress

$1,132,200

Trajectories of substance use during pregnancy and postpartum: Pathways from parental risk factors to child socioemotional and neurodevelopment

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Operating Grant: Data Analysis Using Existing CDN Databases and Cohorts

Principal investigators: Lebel, Catherine A; Rioux, Charlie

Keywords: Infants; Neurodevelopment; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Socioemotional Development; Substance Use

$75,000

Designing a Better Beginnings collaborative pipeline: Partnership between the APrON Cohort and One Child, Every Child

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Principal investigators: Ross, Kharah M

Keywords: Collaboration Pipeline; Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease; Pregnancy Cohort; Youth

$24,717

The Alliance Against Violence and Adversity (AVA) Affecting Girls, Women, and Gender-Diverse People: National Health Hub for Knowledge Mobilization and Exchange

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Other: NWHRI: Coalition - Hubs - Supplement

Principal investigators: Letourneau, Nicole L; CUPS, .; Donnelly, Carlene; Moncayo, Gwendolyn J; Bennett, Marlyn L; Cummings, Jorden A; Darroch, Francine E; Holtmann, Catherine R; Jackson, Margaret A; King, Malcolm; Lessard, Geneviève; Nixon, Kendra L; Rogers, Matt W; Ross, Kharah M; Scott, Katreena L; Stewart-Tufescu, Ashley

Keywords: Adverse Childhood Experiences; Evidence-Informed Health Care; Family Violence; Gender-Based Violence; Health System Transformation; Implementation Science; Knowledge Exchange; Knowledge Mobilization; Repository; Women, Girls, Gender-Diverse People

$11,000

The Alliance Against Violence and Adversity (AVA) Affecting Girls, Women, and Gender-Diverse People: National Health Hub for Knowledge Mobilization and Exchange

Co-investigatorCIHR2023National Women's Health Res. Init.:Pan-Can. Women's Health Coa. - Hubs

Principal investigators: Letourneau, Nicole L; CUPS, .; Donnelly, Carlene; Moncayo, Gwendolyn J; Bennett, Marlyn L; Cummings, Jorden A; Darroch, Francine E; Jackson, Margaret A; King, Malcolm; Lessard, Geneviève; Nixon, Kendra L; Rogers, Matt W; Ross, Kharah M; Scott, Katreena L; Stewart-Tufescu, Ashley

$438,121

Role of prenatal stress in the co-development of children's gut microbiome and socioemotional problems

Nominated PICIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Giesbrecht, Gerald F

Keywords: Gut-Brain-Axis; Mental Health; Microbiome Maturation; Prenatal Stress; Socioemotional Development

$1,327,276

Non-nutritive sweetener consumption during pregnancy and child body mass index: can postnatal fibre consumption mitigate potential risks?

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Reimer, Raylene A

Keywords: Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease; Dietary Fibre; Gut Microbiome; Insulin Resistance; Maternal Diet; Non-Nutritive Sweeteners; Obesity; Postnatal Intervention; Prebiotic; Pregnancy Cohort

$715,275

Experiential and Epigenetic Pathways to Depression and Resilience in Youth

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Letourneau, Nicole L; Dewey, Deborah M; Mannix, Nancy

Keywords: Dna Methylation; Epigenetics; Intervention; Knowlege Translation; Longitudinal Cohort; Prevention; Protective Factors; Risk Factors; Youth Depression; Youth Resilience

$1,147,500

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Profile data last refreshed on September 27, 2026 from the university directory, publication records and CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding.

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Gerald Giesbrecht

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Prenatal maternal mental health and resilience in the United Kingdom during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a cross- national comparison.

Perinatal Predictors and Mediators of Attachment Patterns in Preschool Children: Exploration of Children's Contributions in Interactions with Mothers.

Mixed-methods study exploring health service access and social support linkage to the mental well-being of Canadian Indigenous pregnant persons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prenatal depressive symptoms are associated with altered structural brain networks in infants and moderated by infant sleep.

Prenatal mental health data and birth outcomes in the pregnancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic dataset.

The Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) longitudinal study: cohort profile and key findings from the first three years.

Data harmonization and data pooling from cohort studies: a practical approach for data management.

Alcohol and substance use in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prenatal maternal distress and immune cell epigenetic profiles at 3-months of age.

Assessment of anxiety during pregnancy: are existing multiple anxiety scales suitable and comparable in measuring anxiety during pregnancy?

Moment-to-Moment Emotion Coregulation in Mother-Child Interaction and Child Socioemotional Development

Digital Childhood: Understanding the Effects of Screen Time on Development and Well-being in School-Aged Youth

Frequent collaborators

Nicole Letourneau

Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen

Catherine Lebel

Suzanne Tough

Amy Metcalfe

Tyler Williamson

Shahirose Premji

Fariba Aghajafari

Shahirose Premji

Deborah Dewey

Bonnie Kaplan

Leslie Roos

Tavis Campbell

Brenda Leung

Shahirose Premji

Emma Climie

Kara Nerenberg

Catherine Field