Prenatal Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Childhood Autism and Behavioral Problems

October 9, 2025

The Science of Physiologic Birth Research Cluster hosted a webinar titled, Prenatal Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Child Development Beyond Birth: Associations with Autism and Behavioral Problems in Childhood, presented by Dr. Rebecca J. Schmidt.

Download the presentation slides here: https://scienceofbirth.ubc.ca/media/document/rjschmidt-wf-nd-webinar-presentation-102025-post0pptx 

Dr. Schmidt is a tenured professor and molecular epidemiologist with over 20 years of experience in epidemiology, biologically relevant gene-environment interactions, epigenetics, maternal and child health, and a primary emphasis on neurodevelopment and autism. Her pioneering research focuses on how early life environmental and nutritional exposures interact with genetics, epigenetics, gene expression, metabolism, molecular mechanisms, and developmental programming, to influence the neurodevelopmental outcomes of children. She leads a large biorepository and several child development cohort studies, including the MARBLES autism pregnancy cohort, the B-SAFE wildfire pregnancy cohort, and the PEACH cohort site for the national ECHO Program.

Advancing the Science of Physiologic Birth Research Cluster


E-mail contact@scienceofbirth.ca

Research Excellence Clusters at UBC Vancouver is a joint initiative of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver and the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. Funding support for the clusters is provided by Academic Excellence Funds – UBC Vancouver.

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