Research
Association between prenatal alcohol exposure and child socio-emotional development
Appointments
- Director, UCLA Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic
- Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
- Program Director, ABC Child Partial Outpatient Program
- Training Director, Tarjan Center for Developmental Disabilities
Biography
Dr. O’Connor’s current work examines psychosocial and psychiatric risk due to prenatal alcohol exposure. Dr. O’Connor has conducted research on the prevention of alcohol consumption in pregnant women, intervention with children with prenatal alcohol exposure, and medical and allied health education on prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
All of her work has focused on collaborative national initiatives with the long-term goal of developing best practice models to be disseminated on local, state, and national levels.
The overarching emphasis of Dr. O’Connor’s research career has been the development, evaluation, and dissemination of empirically supported assessment and treatment methods for high-risk children.
Publications
- O'Connor, MJ. Rehabilitation in children with ventricular assist devices. JHLT Open. 2025;9 :100310. doi: 10.1016/j.jhlto.2025.100310. PubMed PMID:40606300 PubMed Central PMC12219460.
- Wright, LK, Peng, DM, Spinner, JA, Murray, JM, O'Connor, MJ, VanderPluym, CJ et al.. Improving pediatric heart failure outcomes through collaboration and innovation: The current status of the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION). JHLT Open. 2025;9 :100311. doi: 10.1016/j.jhlto.2025.100311. PubMed PMID:40606295 PubMed Central PMC12219354.
- Moon, J, Greiten, L, Vander, C, Peng, DM, Butto, A, Butts, R et al.. Contemporary outcomes of mechanical circulatory support using paracorporeal continuous flow pump in children: a report from the ACTION learning network. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2025; :. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2025.06.018. PubMed PMID:40602507 .
- Sandepudi, K, Shah, KV, Melnick, BA, Li, RA, Ho, K, O'Connor, MJ et al.. Pathophysiology of Wound Development and Chronicity in Renal Disease: A Narrative Review. Int Wound J. 2025;22 (7):e70713. doi: 10.1111/iwj.70713. PubMed PMID:40579936 PubMed Central PMC12205259.
- Masood, IR, Wang, L, Stanley, HM, Edwards, JJ, Ahmed, H, Lin, KY et al.. Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Exercise Capacity in Children With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Circ Heart Fail. 2025; :e012501. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.124.012501. PubMed PMID:40534547 .