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
- Edelson, JB, O'Connor, MJ, Shezad, M, Duganiero, T, Auerbach, SR, Bleiweis, M et al.. Prospective Multicenter Evaluation of a Novel Active Driving System for Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Support. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2026.03.080. PubMed PMID:42089850 .
- Raja, KR, Muhammad Farrukh, S, Kroslowitz, B, O'Connor, MJ, Greiten, L, Conway, J et al.. Double bridge to heart transplantation: Outcomes of early versus delayed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation crossover in pediatric population. JTCVS Open. 2026;30 :101608. doi: 10.1016/j.xjon.2026.101608. PubMed PMID:42079905 PubMed Central PMC13131140.
- Delaney, P, Griffin, J, Khan, N, Ibrash, B, O'Connor, MJ, Venit, T et al.. Arsenite methyltransferase 3 is required for mitochondrial function and hepatic lipid metabolism. FEBS J. 2026; :. doi: 10.1111/febs.70559. PubMed PMID:42068242 .
- Yap, TA, Manning, HC, Sapra, P, Mills, GB, O'Connor, MJ. Targeting genomic instability in cancer. Cell. 2026;189 (8):2278-2306. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.03.035. PubMed PMID:41997125 .
- Okonkwo, CE, O'Connor, MJ, Wong, YL, Nyström, L, Al-Marzouqi, AH, Ayyash, M et al.. Chemical and structural characterization of hemicellulose from date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Front Nutr. 2026;13 :1804879. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1804879. PubMed PMID:41971386 PubMed Central PMC13062190.