Frances Champagne
Professor — Ph.D., McGill University
Professor and Associate Chair for Faculty and Student Affairs

Contact
- E-mail: fchampagne@utexas.edu
- Phone: (512) 232-3401
- Office: SEA 4.212A
- Campus Mail Code: A8000
Interests
Gene-environment interplay, developmental trajectories, epigenetic inheritance, social neuroscience
Biography
Dr. Champagne is accepting doctoral students in Fall 2021.
After completing a B.A. in Psychology at Queen’s University (Canada), I delved into the genetic and environmental risk factors in psychopathology at McGill University in the M.Sc. program in Psychiatry. I then started a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at McGill University examining the role of mother-infant interactions in shaping the brain. In 2004, I received a fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to conduct postdoctoral research at Cambridge University (UK), examining the role of imprinted genes in development and social behavior. From 2006-2017, I was a faculty in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University and established a research group examining the epigenetic influence of early life experiences. My interests focus on the interplay between genes and environment that shape neural and behavioral outcomes and the implications of this dynamic interplay for inheritance of traits.
I am currently teaching The Developing Brain & Who Do You Think You Are?
Courses
PSY 341K • The Developing Brain-Wb
41439 • Fall 2020
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM
Internet; Synchronous
UGS 302 • Who Do You Think You Are-Wb
60250 • Fall 2020
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM
Internet; Synchronous
Wr
ID
PSY 341K • Ethics, Genetics/The Brain
41989 • Spring 2020
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 203
Wr
PSY 341K • The Developing Brain
42563 • Spring 2019
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 203
PSY 341K • Ethics, Genetics/The Brain
42800 • Fall 2018
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM SEA 2.108
PSY 341K • Ethics, Genetics/The Brain
43132 • Fall 2017
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM SEA 2.108
Publications
Robakis TK, Lee S, Werner E, Liu G, Miller M, Wylie, Champagne FA, Salas M, Dod C, Tycko B, Monk C (2020) DNA methylation patterns in T lymphocytes are generally stable in human pregnancies but CD3 methylation is associated with perinatal psychiatric symptoms Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health 3:100044.
Walsh K, McCormack CA, Webster R, Pinto A, Lee S, Feng T, Krakovsky HS, O'Grady SM, Tycko B, Champagne FA, Werner EA, Liu G, Monk C (2019) Maternal prenatal stress phenotypes associate with fetal neurodevelopment and birth outcomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 16(48):23996-24005
Champagne FA (2019) Interplay between paternal germline and maternal effects in shaping development: the overlooked importance of behavioural ecology. Functional Ecology 00:1– 13.
Feldman R, Braun A, Champagne FA (2019) The neural mechanisms and consequences of paternal caregiving. Nat Reviews Neurosci 20:205–224.
Champagne FA (2018) Beyond the maternal epigenetic legacy. Nat Neurosci 21(6):773-774.
Mashoodh R, Habrylo IB, Gudsnuk KM, Pelle G, Champagne FA (2018) Maternal modulation of paternal effects on offspring development. Proc Biol Sci 285(1874).
Nätt D, Barchiesi R, Murad J, Feng J, Nestler EJ, Champagne FA, Thorsell A (2017) Perinatal Malnutrition Leads to Sexually Dimorphic Behavioral Responses with Associated Epigenetic Changes in the Mouse Brain. Sci Rep 7(1):11082.
Monk C, Feng T, Lee S, Krupska I, Champagne FA, Tycko B (2016) Distress during pregnancy: Epigenetic regulation of placenta glucocorticoid-related genes and fetal neurobehavior. Am J Psychiatry 173(7):705-13.