Karen Lindsay
Biography
Karen Lindsay, Ph.D., RDN, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, with an affiliation in the Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention. She holds the Susan Samueli Early Career Chair for Integrative Health and serves as Co-Director of the Integrative Maternal-Child Wellness program at the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute. Lindsay received her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from University College Dublin in 2014, where her dissertation examined maternal nutrition and metabolism in pregnancy through cross-sectional, prospective, and intervention studies.
Lindsay's research examines the interplay between prenatal nutrition and psychosocial stress and their effects on maternal metabolic health and fetal programming of disease risk. Her work focuses on maternal and child health during the first 1000 days of life, with particular attention to underserved populations. She has investigated how maternal diet quality, stress, and inflammation interact to influence outcomes such as gestational diabetes, insulin resistance, and offspring adiposity. Lindsay has received multiple research grants to support this work, including a NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award and pilot awards from the NIH National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities and the UC Cancer Research Coordinating Center.
As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, Lindsay provides clinical nutrition services at the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, specializing in women's health, infertility, pregnancy, gastroenterology, and autoimmunity. She has developed and co-teaches culinary medicine curricula for medical students, pharmacy students, residents, and fellows at UCI. Lindsay has mentored numerous undergraduate students, graduate students, and medical students in research and has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in journals focused on nutrition, obesity, maternal-fetal medicine, and developmental origins of health and disease.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Medical Sciences, University College Dublin, School of Medicine & Medical Science, 2014
- B.S. in Human Nutrition & Dietetics, Trinity College Dublin, School of Medicine, 2011
Distinctions
- UCI Research Associates Athalie R. Clarke Award for Integrative Health research, 2024
- Let's Eat Healthy Leadership Award for early-life nutrition research supporting the health of California families in the first 1000 days, Dairy Council of California, 2024
- UCI School of Medicine Outstanding Early Career Research Award, Honorable mention, 2022
- Susan Samueli Early Career Chair for Integrative Health, 2020
- American Society for Nutrition Nutrition Translation Award, 2019
- DSM Science & Innovation award for Excellence in PhD research, 2015
- Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute Undergraduate Highest Achiever award, 2011
Areas of Expertise
- Maternal Perinatal Nutrition
- Gestational Diabetes Prevention
- Prenatal Psychosocial Stress
- Dietary Inflammatory Patterns
- Mindfulness-Based Interventions
- Culinary Medicine Education
- Metabolomic Profiling
Recent Publications
- Moore D, Ma Z, Villasenor D, Odegaard A, Lu Y, Lindsay KL, “Easy-to-learn Dietary Behavior Change Intervention Does Not Significantly Improve Diet Quality of College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial” (opens in new tab), Nutrition Research, vol. 140, pp. 11-23, 2025.
- Lindsay KL, Kennedy J, Kim D, Kalra A, Parekh NK, “Development of a Culinary Medicine Curriculum to Support Nutrition Knowledge for Gastroenterology Fellows and Faculty” (opens in new tab), Nutrients, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 404, 2024.
- Lindsay KL, Gyllenhammer LE, Guo Y, “Mindfulness and cardiometabolic health during pregnancy: an integrative review” (opens in new tab), Mindfulness, vol. 15, pp. 995-1013, 2024.
- Lindsay KL, Robertson T, Leka H, Rosales A, Smilowitz JT, Taylor Lucas C, “Nutrition services and resources for families in the first 1000 days in California” (opens in new tab), Reprod Female Child Health, vol. 3, pp. e93, 2024.
- Moore DM, Madrid I, Lindsay KL, “Systematic Review of Simple Behavioral Interventions for Dietary Changes among Young Adults” (opens in new tab), Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, vol. 55, pp. S1499-4046(23)00090-8, 2023.
- Buehler K, Herekar A, Wang P, Lindsay KL, “Feasibility and acceptability of a mindfulness-based smartphone app among pregnant women with obesity” (opens in new tab), International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 20, no. 7, 2023.
- Wang P, Yim IS, Lindsay KL, “Maternal Diet Quality and Prenatal Depressive Symptoms: The Moderating Role of Economic Well-Being” (opens in new tab), Nutrients, vol. 15, no. 12, pp. 2809, 2023.
- Lindsay KL, Milone G, Mercer BM, Saade GR, Silver BM, Haas D, Simhan H, Perry S, Reddy U, Chung J, “Early-pregnancy psychological health indices and the incidence of nausea and vomiting in later gestation”, Am J Obstet Gynecol, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. S670, 2023.
- Milone G, Lindsay KL, Mercer BM, Saade GR, Silver BM, Haas D, Simhan H, Perry S, Reddy U, Chung J, “Is periconceptional diet associated with a shortened cervix and preterm birth?”, Am J Obstet Gynecol, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. S642-3, 2023.
- Milone G, Lindsay KL, Mercer BM, Saade GR, Silver BM, Haas D, Simhan H, Perry S, Reddy U, Chung J, “Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy beyond the first trimester and the risk of preterm birth”, Am J Obstet Gynecol, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. S314, 2023.
- Lindsay KL, Milone GM, Silver R, Grobman WA, Saade G, Reddy U, Haas D, Simhan H, Mercer BM, Parry S, Chung JH, “Periconceptional diet quality predicts glycemic control and gestational diabetes risk in nulliparous pregnant women”, Front Endocrinol, vol. 13, pp. 940870, 2022.
- Cao R, Rahmani A, Lindsay KL, “Prenatal Stress Assessment using Heart Rate Variability and Salivary Cortisol: A Machine Learning-Based Approach” (opens in new tab), PLOS One, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. e0274298, 2022.
- Lindsay KL, Mashayekh J, Rodriguez N, Gyllenhammer LE, “Relationship Between Psychological Stress and Ghrelin Levels in Pregnant Women with Overweight or Obesity” (opens in new tab), Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 146, pp. 105937, 2022.
- Lindsay KL, Mashayekh J, Gyllenhammer LE, “Associations of Chronic and Acute Stress With Ghrelin Levels in Overweight and Obese Pregnancy”, Obesity, vol. 30, no. Supplement 1-003, 2022.
- Mashayekh J, Gyllenhammer LE, Lindsay KL, “Maternal chronic perceived stress, but not acute stress exposure, is associated with ghrelin levels among Hispanic pregnant women with overweight or obesity”, Current Devel Nutr, vol. 6, no. Supplement 1, pp. 688, 2022.
- Lindsay KT, Gyllenhammer L, Entringer S, Wadhwa PD, “Acute stress alters insulin secretion sensitivity index in pregnant women with overweight/obesity”, Obesity, vol. 29, no. S2, pp. 51, 2022.
- Lindsay K.L., Milone G.F., Grobman W.A., Haas D.M., Mercer B.M., Simhan H.N., Saade G., Silver R.M., Chung J.H., “Periconceptional diet quality is associated with gestational diabetes risk and glucose concentrations among nulliparous gravidas” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 13, 2022.
- Lindsay KL, Gyllenhammer L, Entringer S, Wadhwa PD, “Rate of gestational weight gain is associated with reduced beta cell function among Hispanic pregnant women with overweight and obesity” (opens in new tab), Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 107, pp. E734-E744, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Lindsay K.L., Kennelly M., Culliton M., Smith T., Maguire O.C., Shanahan F., Brennan L., McAuliffe F.M., “Probiotics in obese pregnancy do not reduce maternal fasting glucose: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial (Probiotics in Pregnancy Study)” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 99, pp. 1432-1439, 2014.
- Lindsay KL, Hellmuth C, Uhl O, Buss C, Wadhwa PD, Koletzko B, Entringer S, “Longitudinal metabolomic profiling of amino acids and lipids across healthy pregnancy” (opens in new tab), PLoS One, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. e0145794, 2015.
- Lindsay KL, Brennan L, Kennelly MA, Maguire OC, Smith T, Curran S, Coffey M, Foley ME, Hatunic M, Shanahan F, McAuliffe FM, “Impact of Probiotics in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus on Metabolic Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 212, pp. 296e1-11, 2015.
- Lindsay KL, Buss C, Wadhwa PD, Entringer S, “The Interplay Between Nutrition and Stress in Pregnancy: Implications for Fetal Programming of Brain Development” (opens in new tab), Biological Psychiatry, vol. 85, no. 2, pp. 135-149, 2019.
- Geraghty AA, Lindsay KL, Alberdi G, McAuliffe FM, Gibney ER, “Nutrition During Pregnancy Impacts Offspring's Epigenetic Status-Evidence from Human and Animal Studies” (opens in new tab), Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, vol. 8, no. Suppl 1, pp. 41-7, 2015.
- Hellmuth C, Lindsay KL, Uhl O, Buss C, Wadhwa PD, Koletzko B, Entringer S, “Association of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI with metabolomic profile across gestation” (opens in new tab), International Journal of Obesity, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 159-169, 2017.
- Lindsay K.L., Buss C., Wadhwa P.D., Entringer S., “The Interplay between Maternal Nutrition and Stress during Pregnancy: Issues and Considerations” (opens in new tab), Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, vol. 70, pp. 191-200, 2017.
- Toher C, Lindsay K, McKenna M, Kilbane M, Curran S, Harrington L, McAuliffe FM, “Relationship between vitamin D knowledge and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels amongst pregnant women” (opens in new tab), Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 261-269, 2014.
- O'Brien OA, Lindsay KL, McCarthy M, McGloin AF, Kennelly M, Scully HA, McAuliffe FM, “Influences on the food choices and physical activity behaviours of overweight and obese pregnant women: A qualitative study” (opens in new tab), Midwifery, vol. 47, pp. 28-35, 2017.
- Lindsay KL, Heneghan C, McNulty B, Brennan L, McAuliffe FM, “Lifestyle and dietary habits of an obese pregnant cohort” (opens in new tab), Maternal and Child Health Journal, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 35-22, 2015.
Contact Information
Email: kllindsa@hs.uci.edu
Address: 856 Health Sciences Road, Ste 4600, Irvine
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Last updated on 5/22/2026.