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
- 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.
- O'Connor, MJ, Brown, MW, Elfilali, MM, Park, AM, Bomback, MJ, Williams, ED et al.. Are We Getting What We Ask For: Few Patients Meet Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) Goals After Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Changes During Pediatric Spine Surgery. J Pediatr Orthop. 2026; :. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000003295. PubMed PMID:41955625 .
- Li, RA, Nguyen, AT, Melnick, BA, Ho, KC, O'Connor, MJ, Teven, CM et al.. Early Prediction of Scar Outcomes: A Prospective Study on the Predictive Value of 3-Month Scar Assessments for 12-Month Results. Int Wound J. 2026;23 (4):e70878. doi: 10.1111/iwj.70878. PubMed PMID:41936458 PubMed Central PMC13052222.
- Montgomery, CM, Rastogi, R, Dewitt, A, Kozyak, BW, Ha, L, Weiss, F et al.. Implementing a Programmatic Approach to Identify and Promote Ventricular Recovery in Pediatric Patients Supported With Ventricular Assist Devices. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026;15 (3):e045453. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.125.045453. PubMed PMID:41568561 PubMed Central PMC13055444.
- Ribeiro, J, Hansen, K, van Beek, L, Stubbs, C, Frigola, J, Talbot, S et al.. Genetic evidence for PARP1 trapping as a driver of PARP inhibitor efficacy in BRCA mutant cancer cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 2025;53 (22):. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf1398. PubMed PMID:41459749 PubMed Central PMC12746104.